GIFT  OF 
Mrs,    I,   M,   Aiken 


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— -<n 


®l^  XBHorlB  Scries. 


RUBAIYAT 

OF 

OMAR  KHAYYAM 


OMAR  KHAYYAM. 
TO  A.  L, 

SAYER  of  sooth,  and  Searcher  of  dim  skies! 
Lover  of  Son g^  and  Sun,  and  Summertide, 
For  whom  so  many  roses  bloomed  and  died; 
Tender  Interpreter,  most  sadly  wise. 
Of  earth^s  dumb,  inarticulated  cries  I 

Time's  self  cannot  estrange  us,  nor  divide; 
Thy  hand  still  beckons  from  the  garden-side, 
Through  green  vine- garlands,  when  the  Winter  dies. 

Thy  calm  lips  smile  on  us,  thine  eyes  are  wet ; 
The  nightingale' s  full  song  sobs  all  through  thine, 
And  thine  in  hers, — part  human,  part  divine  ! 

Among  the  deathless  gods  thy  place  is  set, 

All-wise,  but  drowsy  with  Life*s  mingled  Wine, 

Laughter  and  Learning,  Passion  and  Regret. 

ROSAMUND   MARRIOTT   WATSON. 


RUBAIYAT 
OFOMARKHAYWI 

RENDERED  IKTO  ENGLISH  VERSE 
BY  EDWARD  HTZGERALO 


Bsrilaaid,  Maine 

Mdcccxcix 


This  Sixth  Edition  on 
l^an  Gelder  paper  con' 
sists  of  g2s  copies. 


COP  f RIGHT 

THOMAS  B.  MOSHER 

1898 


CONTENTS 


PAGB 

Toast  to  Omar  KhayyAm     .        .       vii 

THEODORE   WATTS-DUNTON. 

Edward  FitzGerald      .        .        ,         xi 

W.   IRVING  WAY. 

Omar  KhayyAm       ....  3 

edward  fitzgerald. 

RubAiyAt  : 

I    text  of  first  edition  (1859)       24 
II    text  of  fourth  edition  (1879)    25 

III  NOTES 73 

IV  VARIATIONS  BETWEEN   THE   SEC- 

OND,    THIRD      AND      FOURTH 
EDITIONS    .  .  .  .  81 


CONTENTS 


RubAiyAt  : 

V      QUATRAINS   PRINTED  IN  SECOND 

EDITION    ONLY   (1868)  .  9 1 


Bibliography 


95 


To  THE  Winds 

THEODORE   WATTS-DUNTON. 


108 


TOAST  TO  OMAR  KHAYYAM 
AN  EAST  ANGLIAN  ECHO-CHORUS 

INSCRIBED    TO    OLD    OMARIAN     FRIENDS    IN     MEMORY    OF 
HAPPY  DAYS   BY  OUSE   AND  CAM 

CHORUS. 

IN  ibis  red  wine,  where  Memory*  s  eyes  seem  glowing, 
And  days  when  wines  were  bright  by  Ouse  and  Cam, 
And  Norfolk' s  foaming  nectar  glittered,  showing 
What  beard  of  gold  John  Barleycorn  was  growing, 
We  drink  to  thee,  right  heir  of  Nature's  knowing, 

Omar  Khayydm  ! 


Star-ga^er,  who  canst  read,  when  Night  is  strowing 
Her  scriptured  orbs  on  Time's  wide  oriflamme, 
Nature* s proud  blazon:  "Who  shall  bless  or  damn? 

Life,  Death,  and  Doom  are  all  of  my  bestowing!  " 

Chorus:  Omar  Khayydm! 

11. 

Toet,  whose  stream  of  balm  and  music,  flowing 
Through  Persian  gardens,  widened  till  it  swam — 
A  fragrant  tide  no  bank  of  Time  shall  dam — 

Through  Suffolk  meads,  where  gorse  and  may  were 
blowing. 

Chorus:  Omar  Khai^ydm! 


TOAST  TO  OMAR   KHAYYAm 


///. 


U^bo  blent  tby  song  xoitb  sound  of  cattle  lowing^ 
And  caw  of  rooks  tbat  percb  on  ewe  and  ranij 
And  bymn  of  larky  and  bleat  of  orphan  lamby 

And  swisb  of  scythe  in  BredfieWs  dewy  mowing? 

Chorus  :  Omar  Khayydm  ! 

IV. 

*Twas  Fitly  ^^Old  Fit{'*  whose  knowledge,  farther  going 
Than  lore  of  Omar y  "IVisdom's  starry  Cham,^ 
Made  richer  still  thine  opulent  epigram : 

Sowed  seed  from  seed  of  thine  immortal  sowing. 

Chorus:  Omar  Khayydm! 

In  this  red  wine,  where  Metnorys  eyes  seem  glowingy 

And  days  when  wines  were  bright  by  Ouse  and  Cam, 
And  Norfolk^  s  foaming  nectar  glitter edy  showing 
What  beard  of  gold  John  Barleycorn  was  growing, 
We  drink  to  thee  tilly  bark  !  the  cock  is  crowing  ! 

Omar  Khayydm  ! 

THEODORE    WATTS-DUNTON. 


EDWARD  FITZGERALD 


Note.— This  brief  sketch  of  Edward 
FitzGerald  is  drawn  mainly  from  his 
Letters  and  Literary  Remains  (1889), 
and  the  Letters  (1894),  edited  by  Mr. 
William  Aldis  Wright;  and  from  the 
articles  by  Mr.  Edmund  Gosse  in  the 
Fortnightly  Review  for  July,  1889;  Mr. 
Francis  Hindes  Groome  in  Blackwood's 
Magai^ine  for  November,  1889 ;  and  Mr. 
Edward  Clodd  in  the  English  Illustrated 
ZMaga7;ine  for  February,  1894. 


^;v^. 


I// 


EDWARD  FITZGERALD. 

EDWARD  FitzGerald  was  bom  at  Bred- 
field  House  in  Suffolk,  England,  on 
March  31,  1809.  His  father  was  John 
Purcell,  who,  marrying  his  cousin  Mary 
Frances  FitzGerald,  took  her  name  and 
arms  upon  the  death  of  her  father  in  18 18. 
Of  Edward's  father  we  know  but  little,  and 
that  little  does  not  concern  the  present 
sketch.  But  as  to  his  mother  we  learn 
from  her  son,  in  a  letter  written  to  Fanny 
Kemble,  that  "  She  was  a  remarkable 
woman  ....  and  as  I  constantly 
believe  in  outward  Beauty  as  an  Index  of 
a  Beautiful  Soul  within,  I  used  sometimes 
to  wonder  what  feature  in  her  face  betrayed 
what  was  not  good  in  her  Character.  I 
think  (as  usual)  the  Lips ;  there  was  a  twist 
of  Mischief  about  them,  now  and  then,  like 
that  in  —  the  Tail  of  a  Cat!  —  otherwise  so 
smooth   and  amiable."     We  must  respect 


»JaeiVJtei*i.TX  OFCALiFOlfe^iALlOfc^^^:^ 


EDWARD  FITZGERALD 

FitzGerald's  love  for  the  "old  Capitals  for 
Nouns  "  in  this  instance  if  in  no  other. 

In  1816  Edward  FitzGerald  went  with 
his  parents  to  France,  and  they  settled  for 
a  time  at  St.  Germain.  Later,  the  family 
removed  to  Paris,  and  lived  for  a  time  in  the 
house  once  occupied  by  Robespierre.  "  Even 
at  this  early  period,"  says  Mr.  Wright,  that 
"vivacious  humor"  began  to  show  itself 
which  afterwards  led  the  Laureate  to  say  he 
had  "never  known  one  of  so  fine  and  deli- 
cate a  wit."  From  182 1  to  1826  he  was  in 
school  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds ;  and  at  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  from  February,  1826, 
till  January,  1830,  when,  after  some  doubt 
as  to  passing  at  all,  he  "  modestly  went  out 
in  the  Poll."  'During  his  school  days  he  had 
the  good  fortune  to  have  as  school  fellows, 
first,  James  Spedding,  W.  B.  Donne,  J.  M. 
Kemble,  and  later,  John  Allen,  W.  H. 
Thompson,  and  W.  M.  Thackeray.  Just 
before  leaving  Cambridge,  or  shortly  there- 
after, he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  three 
Tennysons,  of  whom  Frederick  and  Alfred 
remained  his  life-long  friends.  The  latter  he 
remembered  as  a  "  sort  of  Hyperion." 

Very  soon  after  leaving  Trinity  College  he 
went  to  visit  an  aunt  in  Paris,  where  he  was 
joined  by  Thackeray.  The  union  of  the 
two  friends  at  this  time  was  destined  to  be 

xU 


EDWARD   FITZGERALD 

of  short  duration,  however,  as  Thackeray 
returned  suddenly  to  England,  the  bearer 
of  a  letter  from  FitzGerald  to  John  Allen, 
one  of  his  earliest,  and  at  this  time  his 
chief,  correspondent.  For  this  friend  Allen 
he  formed  a  lasting  regard  of  the  warmest 
character.  Writing  to  him  in  September, 
1834,  he  says:  "I  am  an  idle  fellow,  of  a 
very  ladylike  turn  of  sentiment,  and  my 
friendships  are  more  like  loves,  I  think." 
FitzGerald  was  "  incomparable  in  friendship," 
and  *'  his  fidelity  was  unconditional,  unobtru- 
sive, uncomplaining;"  to  use  the  words  of  a 
writer  in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  "he  was 
willing  to  give  much  and  receive  little;  he 
consented  even  to  be  forgotten,  while  he 
never  forgot."  In  May  (1830)  he  left  France, 
and  late  in  the  year  he  was  at  Naseby,  where 
his  father  had  a  considerable  estate,  Mr. 
Wright  tells  us,  "including  the  famous 
battlefield"  over  which  he  was  to  take 
Carlyle  later  in  life  when  the  latter  was 
preparing  his  Cromwell  Letters  for  publi- 
cation. Here  he  made  his  earliest  attempt 
in  verse,  which  appeared  anonymously  in 
the  AthencBum  of  July  9,  1831,  and  excited 
the  curiosity  and  envy  of  Charles  Lamb,  "  the 
frolic  and  the  gentle."  On  leaving  Naseby 
he  made  a  short  visit  to  Southampton,  and 
a  little  later  was  with  Thackeray  again,  in 


EDWARD  FITZGERALD 

London.  But  during  his  visits  to  other 
friends  and  acquaintances  he  never  lost 
touch  with  his  friend  Allen,  for  love  of 
whom  he  felt  so  "spurred  on  by  a  sort  of 
gathering  up  of  feelings"  that  he  vented 
himself  in  a  letter  at  least  once  a  week. 
He  had  been  "lapped"  in  Shakespeare*s 
sonnets  —  "they  seem  all  stuck  about  my 
heart,"  he  writes,  "  like  the  ballads  that  used 
to  be  on  the  walls  of  London."  His  letters 
at  this  time  (i  831 -1834)  are  sprinkled  with 
references  to  his  reading  that  let  one  into  his 
confidence,  but  give  no  hint  as  to  an  early 
development  of  his  taste  for  the  literature  of 
that  country  which  lies  "East  of  Suez  and 
the  Ten  Commandments."  "  Thackeray  has 
illustrated  my  Undine  in  about  fourteen 
little  colored  drawings  —  very  nicely,"  he 
writes  to  Allen  in  a  letter  dated  June  ^i, 
1834.  Here's  a  book  will  excite  the  cupidity 
of  bibliomaniacs  if  it  ever  appears  in  the 
market. 

In  1835-6-7  FitzGerald  was  living  with 
his  father  in  Boulge  Hall,  Woodbridge,  and 
reading  Southey*s  Life  of  Cowper,  "not  a 
book  to  be  read  by  every  man  at  the  fall  of 
the  leaf;"  Plutarch's  Lives,  "one  of  the 
most  delightful  books  I  ever  read ; "  and  the 
Idylls  of  Theocritus,  "  which  harmonize  with 
the  opening  of  the  fine  weather."     In  April, 


EDWARD  FITZGERALD 

1838,  he  was  in  London  again,  "with  a  kind 
of  influenza,  which  has  blocked  up  most  of 
my  senses,  and  put  a  wet  blanket  over  my 
brains,"  a  "state  of  head'*  which  was  not 
improved  by  reading  a  book  by  an  English- 
man (Carlyle)  on  the  French  Revolution  — 
"written  in  the  German  style."  Here  he 
received  a  visit  from  Alfred  Tennyson,  "very 
droll,  and  very  waywarc^:  and  much  sitting 
up  of  nights  till  two  and  three  in  the  morn- 
ing with  pipes  in  our  mouths :  at  which  good 
hour  we  would  get  Alfred  to  give  us  some 
of  his  magic  music,  which  he  does  between 
growling  and  smoking;  and  so  to  bed.*' 
Much  of  his  time  in  London  was  spent  in 
the  art  galleries,  "delighting  in  the  mysteri- 
ous charms"  of  Raphael's  Madonnas,  with 
"faces  beyond  the  discomposure  of  passion, 
and  their  very  draperies  betoken  an  Elysian 
atmosphere  where  wind  never  blew."  Early 
in  1839  he  was  back  in  the  country  writing 
to  his  "  dear  Allen  "  that  he  was  reading  all 
the  morning  "about  Nero  in  Tacitus  lying 
at  full  length  on  a  bench  in  the  garden:  a 
nightingale  singing,  and  red  anemones  eyeing 
the  sun  manfully  not  far  off."  A  "funny 
mixture"  he  thought  this,  "Nero,  and  the 
delicacy  of  Spring."  Lunching  on  "Cam- 
bridge cream  cheese ; "  riding  across  country ; 
"spudding'*   up  weeds  from  the  grass;  he 


EDWARD  FITZGERALD 

would  sit  down  to  write  to  his  friend,  while 
listening  to  the  incessant  chatter  of  "the 
most  delightful  little  girl  in  the  world." 
"So  runs  the  world  away.  You  think  I 
live  in  Epicurean  ease,  but  this  happens  to 
be  a  jolly  day;  one  is  not  always  well,  or 
tolerably  good,  the  weather  not  always  clear, 
nor  nightingales  singing,  nor  Tacitus  full  of 
pleasant  atrocities.  But  such  as  life  is,  I 
believe  I  have  got  hold  of  a  good  end  of  it." 
And  in  such  harmless  wise,  this  **  peace- 
able, affectionate,  and  ultra-modest  man,"  as 
Carlyle  called  him,  went  on  living  *'his  inno- 
cent far  niente  life "  for  another  decade  or 
more.  He  had  not  yet  reached  the  Persian 
stage;  he  seemed  to  have  no  share  in  the 
ambitions  and  strivings  of  his  old  friends.  If 
now  and  then  he  fell  in  with  a  celebrity  who 
was  moved  to  wish  for  a  closer  acquaintance 
with  him,  he  would  rarely  venture  out  of  his 
retirement  to  cultivate  the  intimacy  by  con- 
tact, preferring  to  remain  in  his  hermitage, 
and  to  bombard  his  newly  made  acquaintance 
with  letters  that  are  among  the  most  human 
and  fascinating  to  be  found  in  our  epistolary 
literature.  It  was  sufficient  if  he  could  induce 
an  old  friend,  or  a  congenial  new  one,  to  run 
down  to  the  country  and  pass  a  few  days 
with  him:  and  if  that  friend  happened  to 
be  Thackeray,   or  the   Rev.   Geo.   Crabbe, 


EDWARD   FITZGERALD 

they  would  discuss  music  (he  was  a  com- 
poser of  no  mean  ability,  and  an  excellent 
performer  on  the  piano),  the  newest  books, 
and  mutual  friends,  with  equal  interest  and 
relish.  Spedding's  forehead  and  his  view 
of  Bacon's  virtue  —  "so  rarified  that  the 
common  consciences  of  men  cannot  endure 
it" — were  unfailing  sources  of  amusement. 
"Thackeray  and  I  occasionally  amuse  our- 
selves with  the  idea  of  Spedding's  forehead," 
he  writes  to  F.  Tennyson;  "we  find  it  some- 
how or  other  in  all  things,  just  peering  out 
of  all  things:  you  see  it  in  a  milestone, 
Thackeray  says.  He  also  draws  the  forehead 
rising  with  a  sober  light  over  Mont  Blanc, 
and  reflected  in  the  lake  of  Geneva."  This 
target  bobs  up  in  "  Old  Fitz's  "  letters  repeat- 
edly, but  never  without  his  taking  a  shot  at 
it.  Sometimes  he  regretted  the  postage  he 
paid  on  these  levities,  as  when  he  paid  is.  yd. 
on  a  letter  to  Tennyson  in  Italy,  which  was 
unworthy  to  travel  as  far  as  Hindostan  at 
that  price.  In  a  note  on  the  difference  in 
wigs,  he  says  the  greatest  was  of  the  kind 
worn  by  a  famous  General  of  the  day,  which 
he  "used  to  take  off  his  head  after  the 
fatigue  of  the  battle,  and  hand  over  to  his 
valet  to  have  the  bullets  combed  out  of  it." 

From   1838  to   1853  FitzGerald   lived  in 
a    little    one-storey    cottage,    near    Boulge 

xvU 


EDWARD   FITZGERALD 

Park  Gates,  "with  its  low-pitched  thatch 
roof  forming  eyebrows  over  the  brown- 
shuttered  windows."  But  during  all  these 
years  he  had  made  no  serious  attempt  to 
invade  the  province  of  letters,  until  1851, 
when  he  published  Euphranor,  a  Platonic 
dialogue  on  chivalry.  This  diminutive  book 
contains  a  description  of  a  boat  race  which 
the  late  Laureate  considered  one  of  our  most 
beautiful  pieces  of  English  prose.  Indeed, 
FitzGerald  himself  thought  it  a  pretty 
specimen  of  "chiseird  cherry  stone."  In 
1852  he  published  Polonius,  a  collection  of 
wise  saws,  some  of  which  are  his  own,  others 
from  Bacon,  Carlyle,  etc.,  and  all  prefaced 
with  a  learned  and  felicitous  introduction  by 
FitzGerald  himself.  In  the  year  following 
appeared  his  Six  Dramas  of  Calderon;  and 
in  1856,  Salaman  and  Absal,  translated  from 
the  Persian  of  Jami  —  afterwards  "boiled 
down  to  three-fourths"  and  clapt  on  the 
back  of  Omar  (1879).  ^^^  ^^59  came  the 
first  edition  of  the  Rubaiyat:  in  1865,  two 
more  plays  from  Calderon,  without  title-page 
or  date;  and  Agamemnon.  In  1880-188 1 
the  two  parts  of  King  CEdipus  were  pub- 
lished; and  in  1882  he  edited  Readings 
in  Crabbe.  Meanwhile  the  Rubaiyat  had 
reached  a  fourth  edition  (1879);  ^^^  t^e  Sea 
Words  and  Phrases  along  the  Suffolk  Coast 


EDWARD   FITZGERALD 

had  been  contributed  to  the  East  Anglican 
in  1868-1869.  The  Sea  Words  and  the  Six 
Dramas  are  the  only  published  works  that 
FitzGerald  ever  put  his  name  to.  As  a 
lifelong  friend  remarked,  "he  took  more 
pains  to  avoid  fame  than  others  do  to 
seek  it." 

None  of  his  books  ever  brought  him 
any  money:  indeed,  it  was  sufficient  for  his 
purpose,  being  always  in  easy  circumstances, 
if  he  could  get  them  printed  to  use  as  gifts 
to  friends.  **  Some  pretty  verses" — Virgil's 
Garden  —  sent  to  Temple  Bar^  "repaid  me 
(as  I  deserved)  with  a  dozen  copies."  So  he 
writes  to  Prof.  C.  E.  Norton, 

In  1855  FitzGerald  was  living  in  an 
old  farmhouse,  Farlingay  Hall,  sometimes 
playfully  called  Farthing-Cake-Hall,  where 
Carlyle  visited  him;  and  for  several  years 
his  time  was  divided  between  this  residence, 
Bredfield  Vicarage  —  the  home  of  his  friend, 
the  Rev.  George  Crabbe — and  the  homes  of 
other  friends  in  town  and  country.  In  i860 
he  removed  to  Woodbridge,  taking  lodgings 
in  the  home  of  a  Mr.  Berry.  But  Berry, 
who  was  a  weak  creature  of  diminutive 
stature,  taking  as  his  second  wife,  in  1873, 
a  "buxom  widow  weighing  fourteen  stone," 
was  thereafter  nicknamed  by  FitzGerald 
**  Old  Gooseberry,"  which  was  more   than 

zix 


EDWARD   FITZGERALD 

the  wife  could  stand,  and  the  lodger  was 
obliged  to  move. 

In  1867  FitzGerald  had  become  owner 
of  a  yacht,  which  he  named  the  Scandal — 
because  that  "was  the  staple  product  of 
Woodbridge,"  and  much  of  his  time  was 
passed  cruising  off  the  Suffolk  coast,  occa- 
sionally accompanied  by  a  friend  or  two,  and 
always  with  plenty  of  books. 

His  next  removal  was  to  Little  Grange, 
a  house  built  some  years  prior  to  1873, 
where  he  passed  his  remaining  years — with 
annual  visits  to  his  friend  Crabbe  at  Merton 
Rectory.  It  was  on  his  annual  visit  to  this 
friend  that  FitzGerald  died,  on  the  14th  of 
June,  1883.  He  rarely  went  to  London  in 
late  years,  as,  though  "  no  paragon  "  himself, 
the  wickedness  of  London  appalled  him,  he 
said.  Consistent  to  the  last,  his  gravestone 
in  the  little  churchyard  at  Boulge  bears,  by 
his  direction,  this  simple  inscription:  "It  is 
He  that  hath  made  us  and  not  we  ourselves." 

Mr.  Francis  Hindes  Groome  has  given  us, 
in  "An  Aftermath,"  already  referred  to,  what 
is  probably  the  most  faithful  portrait  of  the 
English  Omar  we  can  hope  to  have.  "His 
simplicity  dated  from  very  early  times,"  says 
Mr.  Groome.  "  For  when  he  was  at  Trinity, 
his  mother  called  on  him  in  her  coach-and- 
four,  and  sent  a  gyp  to  ask  him  to  step  down 


EDWARD  FITZGERALD 

to  the  college-gate,  but  he  could  not  come-^ 
his  only  pair  of  shoes  was  at  the  cobbler's." 
A  tall,  sea-bronzed  man,  always  careless 
about  his  dress,  he  could  be  seen  late  in 
life,  "walking  down  into  Woodbridge,  with 
an  old  Inverness  cape,  slippers  on  feet,  and 
a  handkerchief,  very  likely,  tied  over  his 
hat.  Yet  one  always  recognized  in  him  the 
Hidalgo.  Never  was  there  a  more  perfect 
gentleman.  His  courtesy  came  out  even  in 
his  rebukes."  Eccentric  he  was  certainly,  as 
were  all  his  family,  of  whom  he  once  said, 
"  We  are  all  mad,  but  with  this  difference  — 
/  know  that  I  am."  To  a  friend  who  had 
complained  of  symptoms  of  heart  disease 
FitzGerald  offered  his  congratulations,  adding 
that  he  had  it  himself,  and  he  was  glad  of 
it,  for  "when  he  came  to  die,  he  didn't  want 
to  have  a  lot  of  women  messing  about  him." 
On  the  death  of  his  mother  he  married  the 
daughter  of  his  friend  Bernard  Barton,  the 
Quaker  poet;  but  marriage  proving  incom- 
patible with  his  mode  of  life,  a  separation 
was  agreed  on,  FitzGerald  behaving  in  a 
manner  as  honorable  to  himself  as  it  was 
generous  to  his  wife. 

In  1852,  when  about  to  depart  for  Amer- 
ica, Thackeray  wrote  to  his  friend  "Old 
Fitz,"  as  he  called  him:  "If  anything 
happens    to    me,    you    by    these    presents 


EDWARD   FITZGERALD 

friust  get  ready  the  Book  of  Ballads  which 

you  like And  I  should  like  my 

daughters  to  remember  that  you  are  the 
best   and  oldest  friend   their    Father   ever 

had The  great  comfort  I  have 

in  thinking  about  my  dear  old  boy  is  that 
recollection  of  our  youth  when  we  loved  each 
other  as  I  do  now  while  I  write  Farewell." 

FitzGerald  early  in  life  became  a  vegeta- 
rian, to  which  fact  Lord  Tennyson  alludes 
in  his  line, 

"  IVbo  live  on  milk  and  meal  and  grass;  " 
But  none  can  say  "that  Lenten  fare  makes 
Lenten  thought"  in  his  case.  He  had  a 
nice  taste  in  art,  as  in  music,  and  delighted 
to  doctor  his  pictures  and  make  sketches  of 
them  for  his  friends.  In  a  letter  to  Fanny 
Kemble  begging  her  to  sit  for  her  "  Photo," 
he  directed  her,  among  other  things,  to  wear 
♦*  nothing  nearer  white  than  such  material  as 
(I  think)  Brussels  lace  (?)  of  a  yellowish  or 
even  dirty  hue;  of  which  there  may  be  a 
fringe    between    dress   and   skin.     I   have 

advised  men  friends  to  sit  in  a dirty 

shirt."  His  taste  in  books  was  peculiar  if 
not  unique.  He  had  an  original  way  of 
making  over  a  book — taking  a  work  in  two 
volumes  and  cutting  out  what  he  considered 
the  padding,  or  useless  portions,  and  binding 
the  remainder  into  one  volume.    Mr.  Wright 

xzu 


EDWARD   FITZGERALD 

owns  a  MS.  volume,  in  which  FitzGerald  pre- 
served many  of  his  favorite  readings,  called 
"  '  Half  Hours  with  the  Worst  Authors,'  and 
very  many  fine  things  by  them."  Horace, — 
"so  sensible,  elegant,  agreeable,  and  some- 
times even  grand,"  he  never  could  "  take  up 
with."  But  Lucretius  was  nearly  always, 
and  very  appropriately,  the  companion  of  his 
cruises  in  the  Scandal,  He  "never  could 
read  Miss  Austen,  nor  (later)  the  famous 
George  Elliot."  And  as  he  got  "old  and 
dry,"  he  was  half  afraid  to  touch  Thackeray 
as  he  looked  at  him  on  the  shelf.  But 
Maria  Edgeworth,  and  Crabbe,  he  admired 
exceedingly;  and  Bums,  whose  "red,  red 
rose  has  burned  itself  into  one's  silly  soul 
in  spite  of  all." 

Ten  years  ago,  a  lawyer  high  in  his 
profession,  a  scholar  familiar  with  much 
that  is  best  in  English  poetry,  writing  to 
a  friend  on  another  matter,  inquired,  "Do 
you  know  anything  about  Omar  Khayyam, 
a  Persian  poet,  who  has  been  translated 
by  somebody?"  FitzGerald's  matchless 
quatrains  were  twenty-five  years  old  at  that 
time,  yet  comparatively  unknown.  The 
story  has  often  been  told  how,  in  1859, 
"  in  beggarly  disguise  as  to  paper  and  print, 
but  magnificent  vesture  of  verse,"  i  appeared 

I    Edinburgh  *J{^ewew,  October,  1894. 


EDWARD  FITZGERALD 

what  the  late  Laureate  has  distinguished  as 
the 

"    .    .    .    .    Golden  Eastern  lay. 
Than  which  I  know  no  version  done 

In  English  more  divinely  well; 
A  planet  equal  to  the  sun 

Which  cast  it,  that  large  infidel 
Your  Omar."    .... 

The  two  hundred  and  fifty'  copies  were 
a  drug  in  the  market;  and  in  despair,  the 
bookseller,  eight  years  later,  threw  the  entire 
remainder  into  the  box  outside  his  door, 
marked  "all  these  a  penny  each."  Here 
Rossetti  and  Swinburne  found  them,  so  the 
legend  goes,  and  shortly  the  edition  was 
exhausted.  To-day  a  London  bookseller 
asks  twenty  guineas  and  upwards  for  a  copy. 

Carlyle  was  twelve  years  finding  out  that 
his  friend  FitzGerald  was  the  translator  of 
Omar.  To  Professor  Cowell,  then  in  India, 
(now  at  Cambridge),  FitzGerald  wrote,  in 
May,  1857,  "you  would  be  sorry  too  to  think 
that  Omar  breathes  a  sort  of  consolation  to 
me  1  Poor  fellow ;  I  think  of  him  and  Oliver 
Basselin,  and  Anacreon;  lighter  shadows 
among  the  shades,  perhaps,  over  which 
Lucretius  presides  so  grimly." 

Sept.  3,  1858,  he  again  writes  to  Professor 

I  Two  hundred  copies  is  the  number  usually  given. 
I  believe  he  printed  two  hundred  and  fifty,  of  which 
two  hundred  went  to  Quaritch. 


EDWARD   FITZGERALD 

Cowell  that  he  had  given  the  manuscript 
of  Omar  to  Parker  in  January,  "he  saying 
Fraser  was  agreeable  to  take  it.  Since  then 
I  have  heard  no  more;  so  as,  I  suppose, 
they  don't  care  about  it;  and  may  be  quite 
right."  Many  of  the  quatrains,  the  translator 
says,  "are  mashed  together;  and  something 
lost,  I  doubt,  of  Omar's  simplicity."  What 
modesty!  FitzGerald  has  crystallized  the 
five  hundred  quatrains  of  the  original  into 
the  one  hundred  and  one  quatrains  of  the 
fourth  version  as  reprinted  in  the  present 
edition. 

Swinburne  has  expressed  the  wish  that 
"  the  soul  and  spirit "  of  Omar's  thought  may 
"be  tasted  in  that  most  exquisite  English 
translation,  sovereignly  faultless  in  form  and 
colour  of  verse,  which  gives  to  those  ignorant 
of  the  East  a  relish  of  the  treasure  and  a 
delight  in  the  beauty  of  its  wisdom." 

Omar  was  finally  recovered  from  Parker 
and  given  to  Mr.  Quaritch;  but,  as  we  have 
seen,  it  was  not  immediately  successful, 
and  in  'another  letter  to  Professor  Cowell, 
FitzGerald  writes:  "I  hardly  know  why  I 
print   any  of   these   things,   which    nobody 

buys I  suppose  very  few  people 

have  ever  taken  such  pains  in  translation  as 
I  have:  though  certainly  not  to  be  literal. 
But  at  all  cost  a  thing  must  live:  with  a 


EDWARD   FITZGERALD 

transfusion  of  one's  own  worse  Life  if  one 
can't  retain  the  original's  better.  Better  a 
live  sparrow  than  a  stuffed  eagle."  One 
who  is  curious  to  understand  FitzGerald's 
pains  in  translation  may  read  quatrain  XI 
of  the  First,  and  the  corresponding  quatrain, 
XII,  of  the  Fourth  version  as  printed  in 
the  present  edition.  Then  let  him  compare 
them  with  the  corresponding  quatrain  of  the 
Second  version,  which  reads  as  follows : 

"Hire  -with  a  little  ^read  beneath  the  Bough, 
A  Flash  of  Wine,  a  Book  of  Verse  —  and  Thou 

Beside  me  singing  in  the  Wilderness — 
Oh,  Wilderness  were  Paradise  enow  I  " 

By  some,  the  second  version  of  this  and 

several  other  quatrains  are  preferred  to  the 

corresponding  quatrains   in   other  versions. 

The  interest  in  Omar  and  his  translator  has 

been  of  amazing  growth   since   June   1883. 

To-day   London   has   her    Omar    Khayyam 

Club,  which  does  equal  honor  to  FitzGerald 

and   the   Persian   philosopher:   and  as  Mr. 

Richard  Le  Gallienne,  at  a  recent  meeting 

of  the  club,  sang  of  him  of  the  east,  so  may 

we  sing  of  him  of  England : 

" O  Life  that  is  so  warm,  'twas  Omar's  too; 
O  Wine  that  is  so  red,  he  drank  of  you : 

Yet  life  and  wine  must  all  be  put  away. 
And  we  go  sleep  with  Omar — yea,  'tis  true." 

W.  IRVING  WAY. 
January,  1898. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM 


I  can  never  forget  my  emotions  when 
I  first  saw  FitzGerald's  translations  of 
the  Quatrains.  .  .  .  The  exquisite 
beauty,  the  faultless  form,  the  singular 
grace  of  those  amazing  stanzas,  were 
not  more  wonderful  than  the  depth  and 
breadth  of  their  profound  philosophy, 
their  knowledge  of  life,  their  dauntless 
courage,  their  serene  facing  of  the 
ultimate  problems  of  life  and  of  death. 
.  .  .  He  will  hold  a  place  forever 
among  that  limited  number  who,  like 
Lucretius  and  Epicurus — without  rage 
or  defiance,  even  without  unbecoming 
mirth — look  deep  into  the  tangled 
mysteries  of  things;  refuse  credence  to 
the  absurd,  and  allegiance  to  arrogant 
authority ;  sufficiently  conscious  of  falli- 
bility to  be  tolerant  of  all  opinions ;  with 
a  faith  too  wide  for  doctrine  and  a 
benevolence  untrammeled  by  creed ;  too 
wise  to  be  wholly  poets,  and  yet  too 
surely  poets  to  be  implacably  wise. 

JOHN   HAY. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM, 


THE  ASTRONOMER-POET  OF   PERSIA. 


OMAR  KhayyAm  was  born  at  Naishapur 
in  Khorasan  in  the  latter  half  of  our 
Eleventh,  and  died  within  the  First  Quarter 
of  our  Twelfth  Century.  The  slender  Story 
of  his  Life  is  curiously  twined  about  that  of 
two  other  very  considerable  Figures  in  their 
Time  and  Country:  one  of  whom  tells  the 
Story  of  all  Three.  This  was  Nizam  ul  Mulk, 
Vizyr  to  Alp  Arslan  the  Son,  and  Malik 
Shah  the  Grandson,  of  Toghrul  Beg  the 
Tartar,  who  had  wrested  Persia  from  the 
feeble  Successor  of  Mahmiid  the  Great, 
and  founded  that  Seljukian  Dynasty  which 
finally  roused  Europe  into  the  Crusades. 
This  Nizdm  ul  Mulk,  in  his  Wasiyat — or 
Testament — which  he  wrote  and  left  as  a 
Memorial  for  future  Statesmen  —  relates  the 


OMAR    KHAYYAm 

following,  as  quoted  in  the  Calcutta  RevieWy 
No.  59,  from  Mirkhond*s  History  of  the 
Assassins. 

"  *  One  of  the  greatest  of  the  wise  men 
of  Khorassan  was  the  Imam  Mowaffak 
of  Naishdpiir,  a  man  highly  honoured  and 
reverenced,  —  may  God  rejoice  his  soul;  his 
illustrious  years  exceeded  eighty-five,  and  it 
was  the  universal  belief  that  every  boy  who 
read  the  Koran  or  studied  the  traditions  in  his 
presence,  would  assuredly  attain  to  honour 
and  happiness.  For  this  cause  did  my  father 
send  me  from  Tus  to  Naishapur  with  Abd- 
us-samad,  the  doctor  of  law,  that  I  might 
employ  myself  in  study  and  learning  under 
the  guidance  of  that  illustrious  teacher. 
Towards  me  he  ever  turned  an  eye  of 
favour  and  kindness,  and  as  his  pupil  I 
felt  for  him  extreme  affection  and  devotion, 
so  that  I  passed  four  years  in  his  service. 
When  I  first  came  there,  I  found  two 
other  pupils  of  mine  own  age  newly  arrived. 
Hakim  Omar  Khayyam,  and  the  ill-fated 
Ben  Sabbah.  Both  were  endowed  with 
sharpness  of  wit  and  the  highest  natural 
powers ;  and  we  three  formed  a  close  friend- 
ship together.  When  the  Imam  rose  from 
his  lectures,  they  used  to  join  me,  and  we 
repeated  to  each  other  the  lessons  we  had 
heard.  Now  Omar  was  a  native  of  Naishdpur, 
while  Hasan  Ben  Sabbah's  father  was  one 
Ali,  a  man  of  austere  life  and  practice,  but 
heretical  in  his  creed  and  doctrine.  One 
day  Hasan  said  to  me  and  to  Khajrydm, 
*  It  is  a  universal  belief  that  the  pupils  of 
the  Im^m  Mowaffak  will  attain  to  fortune. 


OMAR   KHAYYAm 

Now,  even  if  we  all  do  not  attain  thereto, 
without  doubt  one  of  us  will;  what  then 
shall  be  our  mutual  pledge  and  bond?' 
We  answered,  *Be  it  what  you  please/ 
*Well,*  he  said,  'let  us  make  a  vow,  that 
to  whomsoever  this  fortune  falls,  he  shall 
share  it  equally  with  the  rest,  and  reserve 
no  pre-eminence  for  himself.*  '  Be  it  so,*  we 
both  replied,  and  on  those  terms  we  mutually 
pledged  our  words.  Years  rolled  on,  and  I 
went  from  Khorassan  to  Transoxiana,  and 
wandered  to  Ghazni  and  Cabul;  and  when 
I  returned,  I  was  invested  with  office,  and 
rose  to  be  administrator  of  affairs  during  the 
Sultanate  of  Sultan  Alp  Arslan.* 

"He  goes  on  to  state,  that  years  passed 
by,  and  both  his  old  school-friends  found 
him  out,  and  came  and  claimed  a  share  in 
his  good  fortune,  according  to  the  school-day 
vow.  The  Vizier  was  generous  and  kept 
his  word.  Hasan  demanded  a  place  in  the 
government,  which  the  Sultan  granted  at 
the  Vizier's  request;  but  discontented  with 
a  gradual  rise,  he  plunged  into  the  maze  of 
intrigue  of  an  oriental  court,  and,  failing  in 
a  base  attempt  to  supplant  his  benefactor, 
he  was  disgraced  and  fell.  After  many 
mishaps  and  wanderings,  Hasan  became  the 
head  of  the  Persian  sect  of  the  Ismailians^ — 
a  party  of  fanatics  who  had  long  murmured 
in  obscurity,  but  rose  to  an  evil  eminence 
under  the  guidance  of  his  strong  and  evil 
will.  In  A.  D.  1090,  he  seized  the  castle  of 
Alamiit,  in  the  province  of  Rudbar,  which 
lies  in  the  mountainous  tract  south  of  the 
Caspian  Sea;  and  it  was  from  this  mountain 
home  he  obtained  that  evil  celebrity  among 


OMAR   KHAYYAm 

the  Crusaders  as  the  OLD  MAN  OF  THE 
MOUNTAINS,  and  spread  terror  through 
the  Mohammedan  world;  and  it  is  yet  dis- 
puted whether  the  word  Assassin,  which  they 
have  left  in  the  language  of  modern  Europe 
as  their  dark  memorial,  is  derived  from  the 
hashish^  or  opiate  of  hemp-leaves  (the  Indian 
bhang) J  with  which  they  maddened  themselves 
to  the  sullen  pitch  of  oriental  desperation, 
or  from  the  name  of  the  founder  of  the 
dynasty,  whom  we  have  seen  in  his  quiet 
collegiate  days,  at  Naishapur.  One  of  the 
countless  victims  of  the  Assassin's  dagger 
was  Nizam-ul-Mulk  himself,  the  old  school- 
boy friend.  I 

"  Omar  Khayyam  also  came  to  the  Vizier 
to  claim  the  share;  but  not  to  ask  for  title 
or  office.  *  The  greatest  boon  you  can  confer 
on  me,'  he  said,  '  is  to  let  me  live  in  a  corner 
under  the  shadow  of  your  fortune,  to  spread 
wide  the  advantages  of  Science,  and  pray  for 
your  long  life  and  prosperity.'  The  Vizier 
tells  us,  that,  when  he  found  Omar  was 
really  sincere  in  his  refusal,  he  pressed  him 
no  further,  but  granted  him  a  yearly  pension 
of  1200  mithkdls  of  gold,  from  the  treasury 
of  Naishapur. 

"  At  Naishapur  thus  lived  and  died  Omar 
Khayyam,  'busied,'  adds  the  Vizier,  'in 
winning    knowledge    of    every    kind,    and 

I  Some  of  Omar's  Rubiiydt  warn  us  of  the  danger 
of  Greatness,  the  instability  of  Fortune,  and  while 
advocating  Charity  to  all  Men,  recommending  us  to  be 
too  intimate  with  none.  Attdr  makes  Nizdm-ul-Mulk 
use  the  very  words  of  his  friend  Omar  [Rub.  xxviii.], 
"When  Nizdm-ul-Mulk  was  in  the  Agony  (of  Death) 
he  said,  *  Oh  God !  I  am  passing  away  in  the  hand  of  the 
Wind.'  " 


OMAR   KHAYYAm 

especially  in  Astronomy,  wherein  he  attained 
to  a  very  high  pre-eminence.  Under  the 
Sultanate  of  Malik  Shah,  he  came  to  Merv, 
and  obtained  great  praise  for  his  proficiency 
in  science,  and  the  Sultan  showered  favours 
upon  him.* 

"  When  Malik  Shah  determined  to  reform 
the  calendar,  Omar  was  one  of  the  eight 
learned  men  employed  to  do  it;  the  result 
was  the  Jaldli  era  (so  called  from  Jalal-u-din, 
one  of  the  king's  names) — *a  computation 
of  time,*  says  Gibbon,  'which  surpasses  the 
Julian,  and  approaches  the  accuracy  of  the 
Gregorian  style.*  He  is  also  the  author 
of  some  astronomical  tables,  entitled  Zfji- 
Malikshahf,*'  and  the  French  have  lately 
republished  and  translated  an  Arabic  Treatise 
of  his  on  Algebra. 

"  His  Takhallus  or  poetical  name  (Khay- 
yam) signifies  a  Tent-maker,  and  he  is  said 
to  have  at  one  time  exercised  that  trade, 
perhaps  before  Nizam-ul-Mulk*s  generosity 
raised  him  to  independence.  Many  Persian 
poets  similarly  derive  their  names  from  their 
occupation ;  thus  we  have  Attdr,  *  a  druggist,' 
Assar,  *an  oil  presser,*  &c.i  Omar  himself 
alludes  to  his  name  in  the  following  whimsical 
lines: — 

*  Khavydm,  who  stitched  the  tents  of  science, 
Has  fallen  in  griefs  furnace  and  been  suddenly  burned ; 
The  shears  of  Fate  have  cut  the  tent  ropes  of  his  life, 
And  the  broker  of  Hope  has  sold  him  for  nothing ! ' 

"We  have  only  one  more  anecdote  to 
give   of  his   Life,  and   that  relates   to  the 

I  Though  all  these,  like  our  Smiths,  Archers,  Millers, 
Fletchers,  &c.,  may  simply  retain  the  Surname  of  an 
hereditary  calling. 


OMAR    KHAYYAm 

close;  it  is  told  in  the  anonymous  preface 
which  is  sometimes  prefixed  to  his  poems; 
it  has  been  printed  in  the  Persian  in  the 
appendix  to  Hyde's  Vetertini  Persarum 
Religioy  p.  529;  and  D'Herbelot  alludes  to 
it  in  his  Biblioth^que,  under  Khiam :  i  — 

"  *It  is  written  in  the  chronicles  of  the 
ancients  that  this  King  of  the  Wise,  Omar 
Khayydm,  died  at  Naishapur  in  the  year  of 
the  Hegira,  517  (a.  d.  1123);  in  science  he 
was  unrivalled,  —  the  very  paragon  of  his 
age.  Khwajah  Nizami  of  Samarcand,  who 
was  one  of  his  pupils,  relates  the  following 
story:  *I  often  used  to  hold  conversations 
with  my  teacher,  Omar  Khayyam,  in  a 
garden;  and  one  day  he  said  to  me,  *My 
tomb  shall  be  in  a  spot  where  the  north 
wind  may  scatter  roses  over  it.*  I  wondered 
at  the  words  he  spake,  but  I  knew  that  his 
were  no  idle  words.2     Years  after,  when  I 

1  "Philosophe  Musulman  qui  a  vecu  en  Odeur  de 
Saintet^  vers  la  Fin  du  premier  et  le  Commencement 
du  second  Si^cle,"  no  part  of  which,  except  the  "  Phi- 
losophe," can  apply  to  our  Khayyim. 

2  The  Rashness  of  the  Words,  according  to  D'Her- 
belot, consisted  in  being  so  opposed  to  those  in  the 
Kordn:  "No  Man  knows  where  he  shall  die." — 
This  Story  of  Omar  reminds  me  of  another  so 
naturally — and,  when  one  remembers  how  wide  of 
his  himible  mark  the  noble  sailor  aimed  —  so 
pathetically  told  by  Captain  Cook — ^not  by  Doctor 
Hawkesworth— in  his  Second  Voyage.  When  leaving 
Ulietea,  "Oreo's  last  request  was  for  me  to  return. 
When  he  saw  he  could  not  obtain  that  promise, 
he  asked  the  name  of  my  Marai — Burying-place. 
As  strange  a  question  as  this  was,  I  hesitated  not  a 
moment  to  tell  him  'Stepney,'  the  parish  in  which 
I  live  when  in  London.  I  was  made  to  repeat  it 
several  times  over  till  they  could  pronounce  it;  and 
then  'Stepney  Marai  no  Toote'  was  echoed  through 
a  hundred  mouths  at  once.    I  afterwards  found  the 


OMAR  KHAYYAm 

chanced  to  revisit  Naishapur,  I  went  to  his 
final  resting-place,  and  lo!  it  was  just  outside 
a  garden,  and  trees  laden  with  fruit  stretched 
their  boughs  over  the  garden  wall,  and 
dropped  their  flowers  upon  his  tomb,  so  as 
the  stone  was  hidden  under  them.'  " 

Thus  far — without  fear  of  Trespass  — 
from  the  Calcutta  Review.  The  writer  of 
it,  on  reading  in  India  this  story  of  Omar's 
Grave,  was  reminded,  he  says,  of  Cicero's 
Account  of  finding  Archimedes'  Tomb  at 
Syracuse,  buried  in  grass  and  weeds.  I 
think  Thorwaldsen  desired  to  have  roses 
grow  over  him;  a  wish  religiously  fulfilled 
for  him  to  the  present  day,  I  believe. 
However,  to  return  to  Omar. 

Though  the  Sultan  "shower'd  Favours 
upon  him,"  Omar's  Epicurean  Audacity 
of  Thought  and  Speech  caused  him  to  be 
regarded  askance  in  his  own  Time  and 
Country.  He  is  said  to  have  been  espe- 
cially hated  and  dreaded  by  the  Siifis, 
whose  Practice  he  ridiculed,  and  whose 
Faith  amounts  to  little  more  than  his  own 
when  stript  of  the  Mysticism  and  formal 
recognition  of  Islamism  under  which  Omar 
would    not    hide.      Their    Poets,   including 

same  question  had  been  put  to  Mr.  Forster  by  a  man 
on  shore;  but  he  gave  a  different,  and  indeed  more 
proper  answer,  by  saying,  'No  man  who  used  the  sea 
could  say  where  he  should  be  buried.'  " 


OMAR   KHAYYAm 

Hafiz,  who  are  (with  the  exception  of 
Firdausi)  the  most  considerable  in  Persia, 
borrowed  largely,  indeed,  of  Omar's  mate- 
rial, but  turning  it  to  a  mystical  Use  more 
convenient  to  Themselves  and  the  People 
they  addressed;  a  People  quite  as  quick 
of  Doubt  as  of  Belief;  as  keen  of  Bodily 
Sense  as  of  Intellectual;  and  delighting  in 
a  cloudy  composition  of  both,  in  which 
they  could  float  luxuriously  between  Heaven 
and  Earth,  and  this  World  and  the  Next, 
on  the  wings  of  a  poetical  expression,  that 
might  serve  indifferently  for  either.  Omar 
was  too  honest  of  Heart  as  well  as  of 
Head  for  this.  Having  failed  (however 
mistakenly)  of  finding  any  Providence  but 
Destiny,  and  any  World  but  This,  he  set 
.  about  making  the  most  of  it;  preferring 
rather  to  soothe  the  Soul  through  the 
Senses  into  Acquiescence  with  Things  as 
he  saw  them,  than  to  perplex  it  with  vain 
disquietude  after  what  they  might  be.  It 
has  been  seen,  however,  that  his  Worldly 
Ambition  was  not  exorbitant;  and  he  very 
likely  takes  a  humorous  or  perverse  pleasure 
in  exalting  the  gratification  of  Sense  above 
that  of  the  Intellect,  in  which  he  must 
have  taken  great  delight,  although  it  failed 
to  answer  the  Questions  in  which  he,  in 
common  with  all  men,  was  most  vitally 
interested. 

10 


OMAR    KHAYYXm 

For  whatever  Reason,  however,  Omar, 
as  before  said,  has  never  been  popular  in 
his  own  Country,  and  therefore  has  been 
but  scantily  transmitted  abroad.  The  MSS. 
of  his  Poems,  mutilated  beyond  the  average 
Casualties  of  Oriental  Transcription,  are  so 
rare  in  the  East  as  scarce  to  have  reacht 
Westward  at  all,  in  spite  of  all  the  acqui- 
sitions of  Arms  and  Science.  There  is 
no  copy  at  the  India  House,  none  at  the 
Bibliotheque  Nationale  of  Paris.  We  know 
but  of  one  in  England:  No.  140  of  the 
Ouseley  MSS.  at  the  Bodleian,  written  at 
Shiraz,  A.  D.  1460.  This  contains  but  158 
Rubaiyat.  One  in  the  Asiatic  Society's 
Library  at  Calcutta  (of  which  we  have 
a  Copy),  contains  (and  yet  incomplete) 
516,  though  swelled  to  that  by  all  kinds 
of  Repetition  and  Corruption.  So  Von 
Hammer  speaks  of  his  Copy  as  containing 
about  200,  while  Dr.  Sprenger  catalogues 
the  Lucknow  MS.  at  double  that  number.^ 
The  Scribes,  too,  of  the  Oxford  and  Calcutta 
MSS.  seem  to  do  their  Work  under  a  sort 
of  Protest ;  each  beginning  with  a  Tetrastich 
(whether  genuine  or  not),  taken  out  of  its 

I  "  Since  this  Paper  was  written  "  (adds  the  Reviewer 
in  a  note),  "we  have  met  with  a  Copy  of  a  very  rare 
Edition,  printed  at  Calcutta  in  1836.  This  contains 
438  Tetrastichs,  with  an  Appendix  containing  54  others 
not  found  in  some  MSS." 


II 


"•  '-''■'■-^^^i^^ii^i^kmjj^j^^i 


OMAR   KHAYYAm 

alphabetical  order;  the  Oxford  with  one  of 
Apology;  the  Calcutta  with  one  of  Expost- 
ulation, supposed  (says  a  Notice  prefixed 
to  the  MS.)  to  have  arisen  from  a  Dream,  in 
which  Omar*s  mother  asked  about  his  future 
fate.    It  may  be  rendered  thus :  — 

"  Oh  Thou  who  bum'st  in  Heart  for  those  who  burn 
"  In  Hell,  whose  fires  thyself  shall  feed  in  turn ; 
"  How  long  be  crying,  *  Mercy  on  them,  God ! ' 
"Why,  who  art  Thou  to  teach,  and  He  to  learn?" 

The  Bodleian  Quatrain  pleads  Pantheism 
by  way  of  Justification. 

"  If  I  myself  upon  a  looser  Creed 
"  Have  loosely  strung  the  Jewel  of  Good  deed, 
"  Let  this  one  thing  for  my  Atonement  plead : 
"  That  One  for  Two  I  never  did  mis-read." 

'  The  Reviewer,!  to  whom  I  owe  the 
Particulars  of  Omar's  Life,  concludes  his 
Review  by  comparing  him  with  Lucretius, 
both  as  to  natural  Temper  and  Genius, 
and  as  acted  upon  by  the  Circumstances 
in  which  he  lived.  Both  indeed  were  men 
of  subtle,  strong,  and  cultivated  Intellect, 
fine  Imagination,  and  Hearts  passionate 
for  Truth  and  Justice;  who  justly  revolted 
from  their  Country's  false  Religion,  and 
false,  or  foolish.  Devotion  to  it;  but  who 
fell  short  of  replacing  what  they  subverted 

I  Professor  Cowell. 

12 


OMAR   KHAYYAm 

by  such  better  Hope  as  others,  with  no 
better  Revelation  to  guide  them,  had  yet 
made  a  Law  to  themselves.  Lucretius, 
indeed,  with  such  material  as  Epicurus 
furnished,  satisfied  himself  with  the  theory 
of  a  vast  machine  fortuitously  constructed, 
and  acting  by  a  Law  that  implied  no 
Legislator;  and  so  composing  himself  into 
a  Stoical  rather  than  Epicurean  severity 
of  Attitude,  sat  down  to  contemplate  the 
mechanical  Drama  of  the  Universe  which 
he  was  part  Actor  in;  himself  and  all 
about  him  (as  in  his  own  sublime  descrip- 
tion of  the  Roman  Theatre)  discoloured 
with  the  lurid  reflex  of  the  Curtain 
suspended  between  the  Spectator  and  the 
Sun.  Omar,  more  desperate,  or  more 
careless  of  any  so  complicated  System  as 
resulted  in  nothing  but  hopeless  Necessity, 
flung  his  own  Genius  and  Learning  with 
a  bitter  or  humorous  jest  into  the  general 
Ruin  which  their  insufficient  glimpses  only 
served  to  reveal;  and,  pretending  sensual 
pleasure  as  the  serious  purpose  of  Life,  only 
diverted  himself  with  speculative  problems 
of  Deity,  Destiny,  Matter  and  Spirit,  Good 
and  Evil,  and  other  such  questions,  easier 
to  start  than  to  run  down,  and  the  pursuit 
of  which  becomes  a  very  weary  sport  at 
lastl 


13 


OMAR    KHAYYAm 

With  regard  to  the  present  Translation. 
The  original  Rubaiyat  (as,  missing  an 
Arabic  Guttural,  these  Tetrastichs  are  more 
musically  called)  are  independent  Stanzas, 
consisting  each  of  four  Lines  of  equal, 
though  varied,  Prosody;  sometimes  all 
rhyming,  but  oftener  (as  here  imitated) 
the  third  line  a  blank.  Sometimes  as  in 
the  Greek  Alcaic,  where  the  penultimate 
line  seems  to  lift  and  suspend  the  Wave 
that  falls  over  in  the  last.  As  usual  with 
such  kind  of  Oriental  Verse,  the  Rubaiyit 
follow  one  another  according  to  Alphabetic 
Rhyme  —  a  strange  succession  of  Grave  and 
Gay.  Those  here  selected  are  strung  into 
something  of  an  Eclogue,  with  perhaps  a  less 
than  equal  proportion  of  the  "Drink  and 
make-merry,"  which  (genuine  or  not)  recurs 
over-frequently  in  the  Original.  Either 
way,  the  Result  is  sad  enough:  saddest 
perhaps  when  most  ostentatiously  merry: 
more  apt  to  move  Sorrow  than  Anger 
toward  the  old  Tentmaker,  who,  after 
vainly  endeavouring  to  unshackle  his  Steps 
from  Destiny,  and  to  catch  some  authentic 
Glimpse  of  To-morrow,  fell  back  upon 
To-day  (which  has  outlasted  so  many 
To-morrows ! )  as  the  only  Ground  he  got  to 
stand  upon,  however  momentarily  slipping 
from  under  his  Feet. 


14 


OMAR   KHAYYXm 

II 
(FROM   THE   THIRD   EDITION.) 

While  the  second  Edition  of  this  version 
of  Omai-  was  preparing,  Monsieur  Nicolas, 
French  Consul  at  Resht,  published  a  very 
careful  and  very  good  Edition  of  the  Text, 
from  a  lithograph  copy  at  Teheran,  com- 
prising 464  Rubaiyat,  with  translation  and 
notes  of  his  own. 

Monsieur  Nicolas,  whose  Edition  has 
reminded  me  of  several  things,  and 
instructed  me  m  others,  does  not  consider 
Omar  to  be  the  material  Epicurean  that  I 
have  literally  taken  him  for,  but  a  Mystic, 
shadowing  the  Deity  under  the  figure  of 
Wine,  Wine-bearer,  &c.,  as  Hafiz  is  sup- 
posed to  do;  in  short,  a  Siifi  Poet  like 
Hafiz  and  the  rest. 

I  cannot  see  reason  to  alter  my  opinion, 
formed  as  it  was  more  than  a  dozen  years 
ago  I  when  Omar  was  first  shown  me  by 
one  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  all  I 
know  of  Oriental,  and  very  much  of  other, 
literature.  He  admired  Omar's  Genius  so 
much,  that  he  would  gladly  have  adopted 
any  such  Interpretation  of  his  meaning  as 
Monsieur  Nicolas*  if  he   could.2     That   he 

1  This  was  written  in  1868.    W.  A.  W. 

2  Perhaps  would  have  edited  the  Poems  himself 


IS 


OMAR   KHAYYAm 

could  not,  appears  by  his  Paper  in  the 
Calcutta  Review  already  so  largely  quoted; 
in  which  he  argues  from  the  Poems  them- 
selves, as  well  as  from  what  records  remain 
of  the  Poet's  Life. 

And  if  more  were  needed  to  disprove 
Monsieur  Nicolas'  Theory,  there  is  the 
Biographical  Notice  which  he  himself  has 
drawn  up  in  direct  contradiction  to  the 
Interpretation  of  the  Poems  given  in  his 
Notes.  (See  pp.  13-14  of  his  Preface.) 
Indeed  I  hardly  knew  poor  Omar  was  so 
far  gone  till  his  Apologist  informed  me. 
For  here  we  see  that,  whatever  were  the 
Wine  that  Hafiz  drank  and  sang,  the  veri- 
table Juice  of  the  Grape  it  was  which  Omar 
used,  not  only  when  carousing  with  his 
friends,  but  (says  Monsieur  Nicolas)  in  order 
to  excite  himself  to  that  pitch  of  Devo- 
tion which  others  reached  by  cries  and 
"hurlemens."  And  yet,  whenever  Wine, 
Wine-bearer,  &c.,  occur  in  the  Text  —  which 
is  often  enough  —  Monsieur  Nicolas  carefully 
annotates  "Dieu,"  "La  Divinite,"  &c. :  so 
carefully  indeed  that  one  is  tempted  to  think 
that  he  was  indoctrinated  by  the  Siifi  with 
whom  he  read  the  Poems.     (Note  to  Rub 


some  years  ago.  He  may  now  as  little  approve  of 
my  Version  on  one  side,  as  of  Monsieur  Nicolas' 
Theory  on  the  other. 


16 


OMAR   KHAYYAm 

ii.  p.  8.)  A  Persian  would  naturally  wish  to 
vindicate  a  distinguished  Countryman;  and 
a  Sufi  to  enrol  him  in  his  own  sect,  which 
already  comprises  all  the  chief  Poets  of 
Persia. 

What  historical  Authority  has  Monsieur 
Nicolas  to  show  that  Omar  gave  himself  up 
"  avec  passion  k  I'etude  de  la  philosophie  des 
Soufis  "  ?  (Preface,  p.  xiii.)  The  Doctrines  of 
Pantheism,  Materialism,  Necessity,  &c.,  were 
not  peculiar  to  the  Siifi;  nor  to  Lucretius 
before  them;  nor  to  Epicurus  before  him; 
probably  the  very  original  Irreligion  of 
Thinking  men  from  the  first;  and  very 
likely  to  be  the  spontaneous  growth  of  a 
Philosopher  living  in  an  Age  of  social  and 
political  barbarism,  under  shadow  of  one  of 
the  Two  and  Seventy  Religions  supposed  to 
divide  the  world.  Von  Hammer  (according 
to  Sprenger's  Oriental  Catalogue)  speaks 
of  Omar  as  "a  Free-thinker,  and  a  great 
opponent  of  Sufism  ;^^  perhaps  because,  while 
holding  much  of  their  Doctrine,  he  would 
not  pretend  to  any  inconsistent  severity  of 
morals.  Sir  W.  Ouseley  has  written  a  Note 
to  something  of  the  same  effect  on  the 
fly-leaf  of  the  Bodleian  MS.  And  in  two 
Rubaiyat  of  Monsieur  Nicolas'  own  Edition 
Siif  and  Siifi  are  both  disparagingly  named. 

No  doubt  many  of  these  Quatrains  seem 


17 


OMAR   KHAYYAm 

unaccountable  unless  mystically  interpreted; 
but  many  more  as  unaccountable  unless 
literally.  Were  the  Wine  spiritual,  for 
instance,  how  wash  the  Body  with  it  when 
dead?  Why  make  cups  of  the  dead  clay 
to  be  filled  with  —  "  La  Divinit^  " — by  some 
succeeding  Mystic  ?  Monsieur  Nicolas  him- 
self is  puzzled  by  some  "bizarres"  and  . 
"trop  Orientales"  allusions  and  images —  1 
"d'une  sensualite  quelquefois  revoltante" 
indeed  —  which  "les  convenances"  do  not 
permit  him  to  translate;  but  still  which  the 
reader  cannot  but  refer  to  "  La  Divinite."  i 
No  doubt  also  many  of  the  Quatrains  in 
the  Teheran,  as  in  the  Calcutta,  Copies,  are 
spurious;  such  Rubdiydt  being  the  common 
form  of  Epigram  in  Persia.  But  this,  at 
best,  tells  as  much  one  way  as  another;  nay, 
the  Siifi,  who  may  be  considered  the  Scholar 
and  Man  of  Letters  in  Persia,  would  be  far 


I  A  Note  to  Quatrain  234  admits  that,  however 
clear  the  mystical  meaning  of  such  Images  must  be  to 
Europeans,  they  are  not  quoted  without  "rougissant" 
even  by  laymen  in  Persia  —  "Quant  aux  termes  de 
tendresse  qui  commencent  ce  quatrain,  comme  tant 
d'autres  dans  ce  recueil,  nos  lecteurs,  habitues  main- 
tenant  d  I'^tranget^  des  expressions  si  souvent  employes 
par  Kh^yam  pour  rendre  ses  pens^es  sur  I'amour  divin, 
et  i  la  singularity  des  images  trop  orientales,  d'une 
sensuality  quelquefois  revoltante,  n'auront  pas  de  peine 
k  se  persuader  qu'il  s'agit  de  la  Divinity,  bien  que  cette 
conviction  soit  vivement  discutee  par  les  moullahs 
musulmans,  et  mSme  par  beaucoup  de  laiques,  qui 
lougissent  v^ritablement  d'une  pareille  licence  de  leur 
compatriote  k  I'^gard  des  choses  spirituelles." 


18 


OMAR   KHAYYAm 

more  likely  than  the  careless  Epicure  to 
interpolate  what  favours  his  own  view  of  the 
Poet.  I  observe  that  very  few  of  the  more 
mystical  Quatrains  are  in  the  Bodleian  MS. 
which  must  be  one  of  the  oldest,  as  dated 
at  Shiraz,  a.  h.  865,  A.  D.  1460.  And  this, 
I  think,  especially  distinguishes  Omar  (I 
cannot  help  calling  him  by  his  —  no,  not 
Christian — familiar  name)  from  all  other 
Persian  Poets :  That,  whereas  with  them  the 
Poet  is  lost  in  his  Song,  the  Man  in  Allegory 
and  Abstraction ;  we  seem  to  have  the  Man 
—  the  Bonhomme  —  Omar  himself,  with  all 
his  Humours  and  Passions  as  frankly  before 
us  as  if  we  were  really  at  Table  with  him, 
after  the  Wine  had  gone  round. 

I  must  say  that  I,  for  one,  never  wholly 
believed  in  the  Mysticism  of  Hafiz.  It  does 
not  appear  there  was  any  danger  in  holding 
and  singing  Siifi  Pantheism,  so  long  as  the 
Poet  made  his  Salaam  to  Mohammed  at 
the  beginning  and  end  of  his  Song.  Under 
such  conditions  Jelaluddin,  Jami,  Attar,  and 
others  sang;  using  Wine  and  Beauty  indeed 
as  Images  to  illustrate,  not  as  a  Mask  to 
hide,  the  Divinity  they  were  celebrating. 
Perhaps  some  Allegory  less  liable  to  mistake 
or  abuse  had  been  better  among  so  inflam- 
mable a  People:  much  more  so  when,  as 
some    think    with    Hafiz    and    Omar,    the 


19 


OMAR    KHAYYAm 

abstract  is  not  only  likened  to,  but  identified 
with,  the  sensual  Image;  hazardous,  if  not 
to  the  Devotee  himself,  yet  to  his  weaker 
Brethren;  and  worse  for  the  Profane  in 
proportion  as  the  Devotion  of  the  Initiated 
grew  warmer.  And  all  for  what?  To  be 
tantalized  with  Images  of  sensual  enjoyment 
which  must  be  renounced  if  one  would 
approximate  a  God,  who,  according  to  the 
Doctrine,  is  Sensual  Matter  as  well  as  Spirit, 
and  into  whose  Universe  one  expects  uncon- 
sciously to  merge  after  Death,  without  hope 
of  any  posthumous  Beatitude  in  another 
world  to  compensate  for  all  one's  self-denial 
in  this.  Lucretius'  blind  Divinity  certainly 
merited,  and  probably  got,  as  much  self- 
sacrifice  as  this  of  the  Siifi ;  and  the  burden 
of  Omar's  Song — if  not  "Let  us  eat" — is 
assuredly — "Let  us  drink,  for  To-morrow  we 
die !  '*  And  if  Hafiz  meant  quite  otherwise 
by  a  similar  language,  he  surely  miscalculated 
when  he  devoted  his  Life  and  Genius  to  so 
equivocal  a  Psalmody  as,  from  his  Day  to 
this,  has  been  said  and  sung  by  any  rather 
than  spiritual  Worshippers. 

However,  as  there  is  some  traditional 
presumption,  and  certainly  the  opinion  of 
some  learned  men,  in  favour  of  Omar's 
being  a  Siifi,  —  and  even  something  of  a 
Saint — those  who  please  may  so  interpret 


^ 


OMAR   KHAYYXm 

his  Wine  and  Cup-bearer.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  there  is  far  more  historical  certainty 
of  his  being  a  Philosopher,  of  scientific 
Insight  and  Ability  far  beyond  that  of  the 
Age  and  Country  he  lived  in;  of  such 
moderate  worldly  Ambition  as  becomes  a 
Philosopher,  and  such  moderate  wants  as 
rarely  satisfy  a  Debauchee;  other  readers 
may  be  content  to  believe  with  me  that, 
while  the  Wine  Omar  celebrates  is  simply 
the  Juice  of  the  Grape,  he  bragg*d  more  than 
he  drank  of  it,  in  very  Defiance  perhaps  of 
that  Spiritual  Wine  which  left  its  Votaries 
sunk  in  Hypocrisy  or  Disgust. 


RUBAIYAT 

PARALLEL  TEXTS  OF  THB  FIRST  AND 
FOURTH  EDITIONS 


RUBAIYAT 

OF 

OMAR  KHAYYAM  OF  NAISHAPUR 

FIRST  EDITION    I859. 

I 

AWAKE !  for  Morning  in  the  Bowl  of  Night 
Has  flung  the  Stone  that  puts  the  Stars  to  Flight: 
And  Lo !  the  Hunter  of  the  East  has  caught 
The  Sultan's  Turret  in  a  Noose  of  Light. 


Dreaming,  when  Dawn's  Left  Hand  was  in  the  Sky 
I  heard  a  Voice  within  the  Tavern  cry, 

"  Awake,  my  Little  ones,  and  fill  the  Cup 
"  Before  Life's  Liquor  in  its  Cup  be  dry." 


And,  as  the  Cock  crew,  those  who  stood  before 
The  Tavern  shouted — "  Open  then  the  Doorl 
"  You  know  how  little  while  we  have  to  stay, 
"  And,  once  departed,  may  return  no  more." 


RUBAIYAT 

OF 

OMAR  KHAYYAM  OF  NAISHAPUR 
FOURTH  EDITION    1879. 


WAKE  1    For  the  Sun  who  scattered  into  flight 
The  Stars  before  him  from  the  Field  of  Nighty 
Drives  Night  along  with  them  from  Heaven  ^  and  strikes 
The  Sultdn's  Turret  with  a  Shaft  of  Light. 

II 

Before  the  phantom  of  False  morning  died,^ 
Methought  a  Voice  within  the  Tavern  cried, 
"  IVben  all  the  Temple  is  prepared  within, 
"IVbjf  nods  the  drowsy  IVor shipper  outside?** 

I 
III 

tAnd,  as  the  Cock  crew,  those  who  stood  before 
The  Tavern  shouted — "  Open  then  the  Door  ! 
"  You  know  how  little  while  we  have  to  stay, 
**v^nd,  once  departed,  may  return  no  more!* 


25 


RUBXiyXt      [i  ED. 


IV 


Now,  the  New  Year  reviving  old  Desires, 
The  thoughtful  Soul  to  Solitude  retires, 

Where  the  White  Hand  of  Moses  on  the  Bough 
Puts  out,  and  Jesus  from  the  Ground  suspires. 


Iram  indeed  is  gone  with  all  its  Rose, 

And  Jamsh;^d*s  Sev*n-ring*d  Cup  where  no  one  knows; 

But  still  the  Vine  her  ancient  Ruby  yields, 
And  still  a  Garden  by  the  Water  blows. 


And  David's  Lips  are  lock*t ;  but  in  divine 

High  piping  Pehlevi,  with  "  Wine !    Wine  1    Wine ! 

^■^ Red  Wine! " — the  Nightingale  cries  to  the  Rose 
That  yellow  Cheek  of  her*s  to*  incarnadine. 


Come,  fill  the  Cup,  and  in  the  Fire  of  Spring 
The  Winter  Garment  of  Repentance  fling : 

The  Bird  of  Time  has  but  a  little  way 
To  fly — and  Lol  the  Bird  is  on  the  Wing. 


26 


TV  ED.]      RUBXiyXt. 


IV 


"Now  the  New  Year  reviving  old  Desires^^ 
The  thoughtful  Soul  to  Solitude  retires^ 

Where  the  White  Hand  of  Moses  on  the  Bough 
Tuts  out,  and  Jesus  from  the  Ground  suspires.i 


Iram  indeed  is  gone  with  all  his  Rose,4 
Andjamshyd^s  Sev^n-ring'd  Cup  where  no  one  knows; 

But  still  a  Ruby  kindles  in  the  Vine, 
tAnd  many  a  Garden  hv  the  Water  blows. 


tAnd  David* s  lips  are  lockt;  hut  in  divines 
High-piping  Tehlevi,  with  "Wine!    Wine!    Wine! 
'^Red  Wine!"  — the  Nightingale  cries  to  the  Rose 
That  sallow  cheek  ^  of  her*  s  to*  incarnadine. 

VII 

Come,  fill  the  Cup,  and  in  the  fire  of  Spring 
Your  Winter- garment  of  Repentance  fling : 

The  Bird  of  Time  has  but  a  little  way 
To  flutter — and  the  Bird  is  on  the  Wing, 

VIII 

Whether  at  Naishdpiir  or  Babylon, 
Whether  the  Cup  with  sweet  or  bitter  run, 

The  Wine  of  Life  keeps  oozing  drop  by  drop, 
The  Leaves  of  Life  keep  falling  one  by  one. 


27 


RUBAiyXt      [I  ED 


VIII 


And  look  —  a  thousand  Blossoms  with  the  Day 
Woke  —  and  a  thousand  scatter'd  into  Clay : 

And  this  first  Summer  Month  that  brings  the  Rose 
Shall  take  Jamsh;^d  and  Kaikobad  away. 


IX 


But  come  with  old  Khayyam,  and  leave  the  Lot 
Of  Kaikobad  and  Kaikhosrii  forgot : 

Let  Rustum  lay  about  him  as  he  will, 
Or  Hatim  Tai  cry  Supper  —  heed  them  not. 


With  me  along  some  Strip  of  Herbage  strown 
That  just  divides  the  desert  from  the  sown, 

Where  name  of  Slave  and  Sultan  scarce  is  known, 
And  pity  Sultan  Mahmud  on  his  Throne. 

XI 

Here  with  a  Loaf  of  Bread  beneath  the  Bough, 
A  Flask  of  Wine,  a  Book  of  Verse  —  and  Thou 

Beside  me  singing  in  the  Wilderness  — 
And  Wilderness  is  Paradise  enow. 


"How  sweet  is  mortal  Sovranty!  " — think  some: 
Others  —  "How  blest  the  Paradise  to  come!  " 

Ah,  take  the  Cash  in  hand  and  wave  the  Rest ; 
Oh,  the  brave  Music  of  a  distant  Drum ! 


28 


IV  ED.]      RUBXiyXt 


IX 


Each  Morn  a  thousand  Roses  hringSyyou  say; 
YeSi  hut  where  leaves  the  Rose  of  Yesterday  ? 

And  this  first  Summer  month  that  brings  the  Rose 
Shall  take  Jamshyd  and  Kaikohdd  away. 


Welly  let  it  take  them  !    IVhat  have  we  to  do 
With  Kaikohdd  the  Great,  or  Kaikhosrii? 

Let  Zdl  and  Rustum  bluster  as  they  will,7 
Or  Hdtim  call  to  Supper — heed  not  you. 


With  me  along  the  strip  of  Herbage  strown 
That  just  divides  the  desert  from  the  sown. 

Where  name  of  Slave  and  Sultdn  is  forgot — 
iAnd  Peace  to  Mahmdd  on  his  golden  Throne  ! 

XII 

tA  Book  of  Verses  underneath  the  Bough, 
tAJug  of  Wine,  a  Loaf  of  Bread — and  Thou 

Reside  me  singing  in  the  Wilderness — 
Oh,  Wilderness  were  Paradise  enow  ! 


Some  for  the  Glories  of  This  World;  and  some 
Sigh  for  the  Prophefs  Paradise  to  come; 

tAh,  take  the  Cash,  and  let  the  Credit  go, 
Nor  heed  the  rumble  of  a  distant  Drum!^ 


RUBAiyAt      [I  ED. 


XIII 


Look  to  the  Rose  that  blows  about  us  —  "  Lo, 
"  Laughing,"  she  says,  "  into  the  World  I  blow : 

"  At  once  the  silken  Tassel  of  my  Purse 
"  Tear,  and  its  Treasure  on  the  Garden  throw." 


XIV 


The  Worldly  Hope  men  set  their  Hearts  upon 
Turns  Ashes  —  or  it  prospers;  and  anon, 

Like  Snow  upon  the  Desert's  dusty  Face 
Lighting  a  little  Hour  or  two — is  gone. 


And  those  who  husbanded  the  Golden  Grain, 
And  those  who  flung  it  to  the  Winds  like  Rain, 

Alike  to  no  such  aureate  Earth  are  tum*d 
As,  buried  once.  Men  want  dug  up  again. 


Think,  in  this  battered  Caravanserai 

Whose  Doorways  are  alternate  Night  and  Day, 

How  Sultan  after  Sultan  with  his  Pomp 
Abode  his  Hour  or  two,  and  went  his  way. 

XVII 

They  say  the  Lion  and  the  Lizard  keep 

The  Courts  where  Jamsh^d  gloried  and  drank  deep: 

And  Bahram,  that  great  Hunter — the  Wild  Ass 
Stamps  o'er  his  Head,  and  he  lies  fast  asleep. 


30 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyXt 


XIV 


Look  to  the  blowing  Rose  about  us — "  Loy 
^^ Laughing'*  she  says,  " into  the  world  I  bloWj 

"c^t  once  the  silken  tassel  of  my  Purse 
"Teart  and  its  Treasure  on  the  Garden  throw,**  9 


XV 


tAnd  those  who  husbanded  the  Golden  grain^ 
tAnd  those  who  flung  it  to  the  winds  like  Rain, 

tAlike  to  no  such  aureate  Earth  are  turn'd 
<As,  buried  onc-e.  Men  want  dug  up  again. 


XVI 


The  Worldly  Hope  men  set  their  Hearts  upon 
Turns  Ashes  —  or  it  prospers  ;  and  anon^ 
Like  Snow  upon  the  Desert's  dusty  Face, 
Lighting  a  little  hour  or  two  —  was  gone. 


Think,  in  this  battered  Caravanserai 
Whose  Portals  are  alternate  Night  and  Day, 

How  Sultdn  after  Sultdn  with  his  Pomp 
v/lbode  his  destined  Hour,  and  went  his  way. 

XVIII 

They  say  the  Lion  and  the  Lizard  keep 

The  Courts  where  Jamsbvd  gloried  and  drank  deep :  'o 

i^lnd  Bahrdm,  that  great  Hunter — the  Wild  Ass 
Stamps  o'er  his  Head,  but  cannot  break  his  Sleep, 


31 


RUBXiyAt      [I  ED. 


XVIII 


I  sometimes  think  that  never  blows  so  red 
The  Rose  as  where  some  buried  Caesar  bled ; 

That  every  Hyacinth  the  Garden  wears 
Dropt  in  its  Lap  from  some  once  lovely  Head. 


XIX 


And  this  delightful  Herb  whose  tender  Green 
Fledges  the  River's  Lip  on  which  we  lean  — 

Ah,  lean  upon  it  lightly !  for  who  knows 
From  what  once  lovely  Lip  it  springs  unseen ! 


Ah,  my  Beloved,  fill  the  Cup  that  clears 
To-day  of  past  Regrets  and  future  Fears  — 
To-morrow  ?  —  Why,  To-morrow  I  may  be 
Myself  with  Yesterday's  Sev'n  Thousand  Years. 


Lo !  some  we  loved,  the  loveliest  and  best 
That  Time  and  Fate  of  all  their  Vintage  prest. 

Have  drunk  their  Cup  a  Round  or  two  before, 
And  one  by  one  crept  silently  to  Rest. 


And  we,  that  now  make  merry  in  the  Room 
They  left,  and  Summer  dresses  in  new  Bloom, 

Ourselves  must  we  beneath  the  Couch  of  Earth 
Descend,  ourselves  to  make  a  Couch  —  for  whom  ? 


3* 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyAt 


XIX 


/  sometimes  think  that  never  blows  so  red 
The  Rose  as  where  some  buried  Ccesar  bled; 

That  every  Hyacinth  the  Garden  wears 
T>ropt  in  her  Lap  from  some  once  lovely  Head. 

XX 

t/Ind  this  reviving  Herb  whose  tender  Green 
Fledges  the  River -Lip  on  which  we  lean — 

tAhj  lean  upon  it  lightly  !  for  who  knows 
From  what  once  lovely  Lip  it  springs  unseett ! 


tAhy  my  Belovedy  fill  the  Cup  that  clears 
To-day  of  past  Regret  and  future  Fears : 

To-morrow !  —  IVhyj  To-morrow  I  may  be 
Myself  with  Yesterday's  Sev'n  thousand  Years.^^ 

XXII 

For  some  we  loved,  the  loveliest  and  the  best 
That  from  his  Vintage  rolling  Time  hath  pr est, 
Have  drunk  their  Cup  a  Round  or  two  before, 
o^nd  one  by  one  crept  silently  to  rest. 


tAnd  we,  that  now  make  merry  in  the  Room 
They  left,  and  Summer  dresses  in  new  bloom, 

Ourselves  must  we  beneath  the  Couch  of  Earth 
Descend — ourselves  to  make  a  Couch — for  whom? 


33 


RUBAiyAt      [I  ED. 


Ah,  make  the  most  of  what  we  yet  may  spend, 
Before  we  too  into  the  Dust  descend; 

Dust  into  Dust,  and  under  Dust,  to  lie, 
Sans  Wine,  sans  Song,  sans  Singer,  and — sans  End! 


Alike  for  those  who  for  To-day  prepare. 
And  those  that  after  a  To-morrow  stare, 

A  Muezzin  from  the  Tower  of  Darkness  cries 
**  Fools !  your  Reward  is  neither  Here  nor  There ! ' 


Why,  all  the  Saints  and  Sages  who  discuss'd 
Of  the  Two  Worlds  so  learnedly,  are  thrust 

Like  foolish  Prophets  forth ;  their  Words  to  Scorn 
Are  scatter'd,  and  their  Mouths  are  stopt  with  Dust. 

XXVI 

Oh,  come  with  old  Khayyam,  and  leave  the  Wise 
To  talk ;  one  thing  is  certain,  that  Life  flies ; 
One  thing  is  certain,  and  the  Rest  is  Lies; 
The  Flower  that  once  has  blown  for  ever  dies. 


Myself  when  young  did  eagerly  frequent 
Doctor  and  Saint,  and  heard  great  Argument 

About  it  and  about :  but  evermore 
Came  out  by  the  same  Door  as  in  I  went. 


34 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyXt 


fj4b^  make  the  most  of  what  we  yet  may  spends 
Before  we  too  into  the  Dust  descend; 

T>ust  into  Chistf  and  under  Dustj  to  lie^ 
Sans  Winey  sans  Song^  sans  Singer  ^  and — sans  End  I 


tAlihefor  those  who  for  To-t>ky  prepare y 
tAnd  those  that  after  some  To-morrow  stare, 

t/l  Mue^^in  from  the  Tower  of  Darkness  cries, 
**  Fools  !  your  Reward  is  neither  Here  nor  There** 


IVhy,  all  the  Saints  and  Sages  who  discussed 
Of  the  Two  IVorlds  so  wisely — they  are  thrust 

Like  foolish  Prophets  forth ;  their  fVords  to  Scorn 
Are  scattered,  and  their  Mouths  are  stopt  with  Dust. 


(SEE  QUATRAIN   LXIII.) 


XXVII 

Myself  when  young  did  eagerly  frequent 
Doctor  and  Saint y  and  heard  great  argument 

t/ibout  it  and  about :  but  evermore 
Came  out  by  the  same  door  where  in  I  went. 

H 


RUBAiyAt      [I  ED. 


XXVIII 


With  them  the  Seed  of  Wisdom  did  I  sow, 
And  with  my  own  hand  labour'd  it  to  grow : 

And  this  was  all  the  Harvest  that  I  reap'd  — 
"  I  came  like  Water,  and  like  Wind  I  go." 


Into  this  Universe,  and  why  not  knowing, 
Nor  whence^  like  Water  willy-nilly  flowing : 
And  out  of  it,  as  Wind  along  the  Waste, 
I  know  not  whither,  willy-nilly  blowing. 


What,  without  asking,  hither  hurried  whence  ? 
And,  without  asking,  whither  hurried  hence  I 

Another  and  another  Cup  to  drown 
The  Memory  of  this  Impertinence ! 


Up  from  Earth's  Centre  through  the  Seventh  Gate 
I  rose,  and  on  the  Throne  of  Saturn  sate. 

And  many  Knots  unravel'd  by  the  Road ; 
But  not  the  Knot  of  Human  Death  and  Fate. 


There  was  a  Door  to  which  I  found  no  Key : 
There  was  a  Veil  past  which  I  could  not  see : 

Some  little  Talk  awhile  of  Me  and  Thee 
There  seemed — and  then  no  more  of  Thee  and  Me. 


36 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyAt 


fVttb  them  the  seed  of  IVisdom  did  I  soWy 

tAnd  with  mine  cnmi  hand  wrought  to  make  it  grow  ; 

And  this  was  all  the  Harvest  that  I  reaped — 
"  /  came  like  Water ^  and  like  Wind  I  go.** 


Into  this  Universe,  and  Why  not  knowing 
U^or  Whence,  like  Water  willy-nilly  flowing ; 

tAnd  out  of  it,  as  Wind  along  the  Waste, 
I  know  not  Whither,  willy-nilly  blowing. 


What,  without  asking,  hither  hurried  Whence  ? 
And,  without  asking,  Whither  hurried  hence  ! 

Oh,  manv  a  Cup  of  this  forbidden  Wine 
Must  drown  the  memory  of  that  insolence  ! 

XXXI 

up  from  EartVs  Centre  through  the  Seventh  Gate 
I  rose,  and  on  the  Throne  of  Saturn  sate,^^ 

And  many  a  Knot  unraveVd  hy  the  Road; 
But  not  the  Master-knot  of  Human  Fate. 

XXXII 

There  was  the  Door  to  which  I  found  no  Key; 
There  was  the  Veil  through  which  I  might  not  see: 

Some  little  talk  awhile  of  Me  and  Thee 
There  was — and  then  no  moie  of  Thee  and  Me.is 


37 


RUBXiyAt     [I  ED. 


Then  to  the  rolling  Heav'n  itself  I  cried, 
Asking,  "  What  Lamp  had  Destiny  to  guide 

"  Her  little  Children  stumbling  in  the  Dark  ? " 
And — "  A  blind  Understanding! "     Heav'n  replied. 


Then  to  this  earthen  Bowl  did  I  adjourn 
My  lip  the  secret  Well  of  Life  to  learn : 

And  Lip  to  Lip  it  murmur'd  —  "  While  you  live 
"  Drink  1 — for  once  dead  you  never  shall  return." 


I  think  the  Vessel,  that  with  fugitive 
Articulation  answered,  once  did  live, 

And  merry-make ;  and  the  cold  Lip  I  kissed 
How  many  Klisses  might  it  take  —  and  give  1 


For  in  the  Market-place,  one  Dusk  of  Day, 
I  watch*d  the  Potter  thumping  his  wet  Clay : 

And  with  its  all  obliterated  Tongue 
It  murmur'd — "Gently,  Brother,  gently,  prayl" 


38 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyXt 


XXXIII 


Earth  could  not  answer  ;  nor  the  Seas  that  mourn 
Inflowing  Purple  y  of  their  Lord  forlorn; 

Nor  rolling  Heaven,  with  all  his  Signs  reveaVd 
tAnd  hidden  by  the  sleeve  of  Night  and  Morn. 


XXXIV 


Then  of  the  Thee  in  Me  who  works  behind 
The  Veil,  I  lifted  up  my  hands  to  find 

fA  Lamp  amid  the  Darkness  ;  and  I  heard. 
As  from  Without — "The  Me  within  Thee  blind  I" 


Then  to  the  Lip  of  this  poor  earthen  Urn 
I  leatCd,  the  Secret  of  my  Life  to  learn : 

And  Lip  to  Lip  it  murmured —  "  While  you  live, 
"  T>rink! — for^  once  dead,  you  never  shall  return^ 


I  think  the  Vessel,  that  with  fugitive 
^Articulation  answered,  once  did  live, 

tAnd  drink;  and  Ah!  the  passive  Lip  I  kiss'' d, 
How  many  Kisses  might  it  take  —  and  give  ! 


For  I  renumber  stopping  by  the  way 

To  watch  a  Potter  thumping  his  wet  Clay : 

%And  with  its  all-obliterated  Tongue 
It  murmur' d—''  Gently,  Brother,  gently,  pray  /  "  '4 


39 


RUBAiyAt      [I  ED. 


XXXVII 


Ah,  fill  the  Cup :  —  what  boots  it  to  repeat 
How  Time  is  slipping  underneath  our  Feet : 

Unborn  To-morrow,  and  dead  Yesterday, 
Why  fret  about  them  if  To-day  be  sweet! 


40 


IV  ED.]      RUBXiyXt 


(SEE  QUATRAIN    LVII.) 


%And  has  not  such  a  Siory  from  of  Old 
Down  Man^s  successive  generations  rolVd 

Of  such  a  clod  of  saturated  Earth 
Cast  bjf  the  Maker  into  Human  mould? 


And  not  a  drop  that  from  our  Cups  we  throw  '5 
For  Earth  to  drink  ofy  hut  may  steal  below 

To  quench  the  fire  of  AngtUsh  in  some  Eve 
There  hidden — far  beneath,  and  long  ago. 

XL 

tAs  then  the  Tulip  for  her  morning  sup 
Of  Heavenly  Vintage  from  the  soil  looks  up, 

T>oyou  devoutly  do  the  like,  till  Heav'n 
To  Earth  invert  you —  like  an  empty  Cup, 


Terplext  no  more  with  Human  or  Divine, 
To-morrow* s  tangle  to  the  winds  resign, 

tAnd  lose  your  fingers  in  the  tresses  of 
The  Cyprus-slender  Minister  of  Wine, 


41 


RUBAiyAt      [I  ED. 


(SEE   QUATRAIN   XLVII.) 


(SEE   QUATRAIN   XLVIII.) 


[FROM    PREFACE. 


Oh,  if  my  Soul  can  fling  his  Dust  aside, 
And  naked  on  the  Air  of  Heaven  ride, 

Is  *t  not  a  Shame,  is  't  not  a  Shame  for  Him 
So  long  in  this  Clay  Suburb  to  abide ! 


Or  is  that  but  a  Tent,  where  rests  anon 
A  Sultan  to  his  Kingdom  passing  on, 

And  which  the  swarthy  Chamberlain  shall  strike 
Then  when  the  Sultan  rises  to  be  gone?] 


4a 


IV  KD.]      RUBAiyAt 


XLII 


tAndiftle  Wine  you  drink,  the  LipyoupresSy 
End  in  what  /ill  begins  and  ends  in —  Yes; 

Think  thenyou  are  To-day  what  Yesterday 
You  were — To-morrow ^'ow  shall  not  be  less. 


So  when  the  Angel  of  the  darker  Drink 
xAt  last  shall  find  you  by  the  river -brinks 
xAndy  offering  his  Cup,  invite  your  Soul 
Forth  toyour  Lips  to  quaff— you  shall  not  shrink,^^ 


fVfy,  if  the  Soul  can  fling  the  Dust  aside  ^ 
tAnd  naked  on  the  Air  of  Heaven  ride^ 

WerH  not  a  Shame —  werH  not  a  Shame  for  him 
In  this  clay  carcase  crippled  to  abide  ? 


'  TVs  but  a  Tent  where  takes  his  one  day's  rest 
tA  Sultdn  to  the  realm  of  Death  addrest; 
The  Sultdn  rises,  and  the  dark  Ferrdsh 
Strikes,  and  prepares  it  for  another  Guest, 


tAndfear  not  lest  Existence  closing  your 
tAccounty  and  miney  should  know  the  like  no  more; 

The  Eternal  Sdkifrom  that  Bowl  has  pour'd 
Millions  of  Bubbles  like  ms,  and  will  pour. 


43 


RUBAiyAt      [I  ED. 


XXXVIII 


One  Moment  in  Annihilation's  Waste, 

One  Moment,  of  the  Well  of  Life  to  taste  — 

The  Stars  are  setting  and  the  Caravan 
Starts  for  the  Dawn  of  Nothing  —  Oh,  make  haste! 


44 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyAt 


XLVII 


lyhen  You  and  I  behind  the  Veil  are  pasty 

Ob,  hut  the  long,  long  while  the  World  shall  last, 

IVhich  of  our  Coming  and  Departure  heeds 
%As  the  Sea^s  self  should  heed  a  pehhle-cast. 


XLVIII 


tA  Moment*  s  Halt  —  a  momentary  taste 
Of  Being  from  the  IVell  amid  the  Waste — 

t^nd  Lo! — the  phantom  Caravan  has  reacht 
The  Nothing  it  set  out  from — Oh,  make  haste! 


XLIX 


Would  you  that  spangle  of  Existence  spend 
tAhout  THE  SECRET —  quick  obout  it,  Friend! 

tA  Hair  perhaps  divides  the  False  and  True — 
tAnd  upon  what, prithee,  does  life  depend} 


vA  Hair  perhaps  divides  the  False  and  True; 
Yes ;  and  a  single  Mif  were  the  clue — 

Could  you  hut  find  it — to  the  Treasure-house, 
And  per  adventure  to  The  Master  too; 


Whose  secret  Presence,  through  Creation*  s  veim 
*J{unning  Quicksilver-like  eludes  your  pains  ; 

Taking  all  shapes  from  Mdh  to  Mdhi;  '7  and 
They  change  and  perish  all — hut  He  remains; 


45 


RUBAiyAt     [I  ED. 


XXXIX 


How  long,  how  long,  in  infinite  Pursuit 
Of  This  and  That  endeavour  and  dispute  ? 
Better  be  merry  with  the  fruitful  Grape, 
Than  sadden  after  none,  or  bitter,  Fruit. 


You  know,  my  Friends,  how  long  since  in  my  House 
For  a  new  Marriage  I  did  make  Carouse : 

Divorced  old  barren  Reason  from  my  Bed, 
And  took  the  Daughter  of  the  Vine  to  Spouse. 


For  "  Is  "  and  "  Is-not  "  though  with  Rule  and  Line. 
And  "  Up-and-down  "  withouty  I  could  define, 

I  yet  in  all  I  only  cared  to  know, 
Was  never  deep  in  anything  but — Wine. 


46 


IV  ED.]      RUBXIyXt 


LII 


A  moment  guessed —  then  hack  behind  the  Fold 
Immerst  of  Darkness  round  the  Drama  rolVd 

IVhichyfor  the  Pastime  of  Eternity  ^ 
He  doth  Himself  contrive i  enacts  behold. 


LIII 


But  if  in  vainy  down  on  the  stubborn  floor 
Of  Earth,  and  up  to  Heav'n^s  unopening  Door, 

You  ga^e  To-day,  while  You  are  You — how  then 
To-morrow,  You  wheti  shall  be  You  no  more  ? 


IVaste  not  your  Hour,  nor  in  the  vain  pursuit 
Of  This  and  That  endeavour  and  dispute  ; 
better  be  jocund  with  the  fruitful  Grape 
Than  sadden  after  none,  or  bitter,  Fruit, 


You  know,  my  Friends,  with  what  a  brave  Carouse 
I  made  a  Second  Marriage  in  my  house  ; 

THvorced  old  barren  Reason  from  my  Bed, 
And  took  the  Daughter  of  the  Vine  to  Spouse, 

LVI 

For  "  Is  "  and  "  Is-not  "  though  with  Rule  and  Line,^^ 
tAnd  "  Up-and-down  "  by  Logic  I  define. 
Of  all  that  one  should  care  to  fathom,  I 
IVas  never  deep  in  anything  but —  Wine. 


47 


RUBAiyAt     [I  ED. 


(SEE  QUATRAIN   XXXVII.) 


XLII 


And  lately,  by  the  Tavern  Door  agape. 

Came  stealing  through  the  Dusk  an  Angel  Shape 

Bearing  a  Vessel  on  his  Shoulder ;  and 
He  bid  me  taste  of  it ;  and  *t  was  —  the  Grape ! 


XLIII 


The  Grape  that  can  with  Logic  absolute 
The  Two-and- Seventy  jarring  Sects  confute: 

The  subtle  Alchemist  that  in  a  Trice 
Life's  leaden  Metal  into  Gold  transmute. 


The  mighty  Mahmud,  the  victorious  Lord, 
That  all  the  misbelieving  and  black  Horde 

Of  Fears  and  Sorrows  that  infest  the  Soul 
Scatters  and  slays  with  his  enchanted  Sword. 


But  leave  the  Wise  to  wrangle,  and  with  me 
The  Quarrel  of  the  Universe  let  be : 

And  in  some  comer  of  the  Hubbub  coucht, 
Make  Game  of  that  which  makes  as  much  of  Thee. 


48 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyAt 


LVII 


y4b,  but  my  Computations^  People  say, 
T{edticed  the  Year  to  better  reckoning  ?  —  Nay, 

*  Twas  only  striking  from  the  Calendar 
Unborn  To-morrow,  and  dead  Yesterday, 


tAnd  lately,  by  tbe  Tavern  Door  agape, 

Came  sbining  tbrougb  tbe  Dusk  an  Angel  Shape 

'Bearing  a  Vessel  on  bis  Sboulder  ;  and 
He  bid  me  taste  ofit;  and  Hwas  —  tbe  Grape! 

LIX 

Tbe  Grape  tbat  can  witb  Logic  absolute 

Tbe  Two-and-Seveniy  jarring  Sects  confute :  ^9 

Tbe  sovereign  Alcbemist  tbat  in  a  trice 
Lifers  leaden  metal  into  Gold  transmute : 


Tbe  migbty  Mabmtid,  Allab-breatbing  Lord, 
Tbat  all  tbe  misbelieving  and  black  Horde  "^^ 
Of  Fears  and  Sorrows  tbat  infest  tbe  Soul 
Scatters  before  him  witb  bis  whirlwind  Sword, 


49 


RUBAiyAt     [I  ED. 


(SEE  QUATRAIN   XXVI.) 


SO 


IV  ED.]      RUBXiyXT 


IVb^y  he  this  Juice  the  growth  of  God,  who  dare 
Blaspheme  the  twisted  tendril  as  a  Snare  ? 

tA  Blessing,  we  should  use  it,  should  we  not  ? 
t^nd  if  a  Curse — whjy,  then,  IVbo  set  it  there  ? 

Lxn 

/  must  ahjure  the  Balm  of  Life,  I  must. 
Scared  by  some  After-reckoning  ta^en  on  trust. 
Or  lured  with  Hope  of  some  Diviner  Drink, 
To  fill  the  Cup — when  crumbled  into  Dust! 

LXIII 

O  threats  of  Hell  and  Hopes  of  Paradise  ! 
One  thing  at  least  is  certain —  This  Life  flies; 

One  thing  is  certain  and  the  rest  is  Lies  ; 
The  Flower  that  once  has  blown  for  ever  dies. 

LXIT 

Strange,  is  it  not  ?  that  of  the  mj^riads  who 
'Before  us  pass'd  the  door  of  Darkness  through, 

Not  one  returns  to  tell  us  of  the  Road, 
IVbicb  to  discover  we  must  travel  too, 

LXV 

The  Revelations  of  Devout  and  Learned 
iVbo  rose  before  us,  and  as  Prophets  burned, 

^re  all  but  Stories,  which,  awoke  from  Sleep 
Tbi^  told  their  comrades,  and  to  Sleep  returned. 


RUBAIYAt      [i  ED. 


For  in  and  out,  above,  about,  below, 
'T  is  nothing  but  a  Magic  Shadow-show, 

Play'd  in  a  Box  whose  Candle  is  the  Sun, 
Round  which  we  Phantom  Figures  come  and  go. 

XLVII 

And  if  the  Wine  you  drink,  the  Lip  you  press. 
End  in  the  Nothing  all  Things  end  in  —  Yes  — 

Then  fancy  while  Thou  art,  Thou  art  but  what 
Thou  shalt  be  —  Nothing — Thou  shalt  not  be  less. 


WhUe  the  Rose  blows  along  the  River  Brink, 
With  old  Khayyam  the  Ruby  Vintage  drink : 

And  when  the  Angel  with  his  darker  Draught 
Draws  up  to  Thee  —  take  that,  and  do  not  shrink. 


IV  ED.]      RUBXiyAT 


/  sent  my  Soul  through  the  Invisible, 
Some  letter  of  that  After-life  to  spell: 

tAnd  hy  and  hy  my  Soul  returned  to  me, 
tAnd  answered  "  /  Myself  am  Heaven  and  Hell : " 

LXVII 

Heav*n  hut  the  Vision  of  fulfilled  Desire, 
v/lnd  Hell  the  Shadow  from  a  Soul  on  fire 

Cast  on  the  Darkness  into  which  Ourselves^ 
So  late  emer^dfrom,  shall  so  soon  expire, 

LXVIII 

IVe  are  no  other  than  a  moving  row 

Of  Magic  Shadow-shapes  that  coine  and  go 

T{ound  with  the  Sun-illumin' d  Lantern  held 
In  Midnight  hy  the  Master  of  the  Show;^^ 


(SEE  QUATRAIN   XLII.) 


(SEE  QUATRAIN   XLII  I.) 


53 


RUBAiyAt      [I  ED. 


T  is  all  a  Chequer-board  of  Nights  and  Days 
Where  Destiny  with  Men  for  Pieces  plays : 

Hither  and  thither  moves,  and  mates,  and  slays. 
And  one  by  one  back  in  the  Closet  lays. 


The  Ball  no  Question  makes  of  Ayes  and  Noes, 
But  Right  or  Left  as  strikes  the  Player  goes ; 

And  He  that  toss'd  Thee  down  into  the  Field, 
He  knows  about  it  all  —  He  knows  —  HE  knows! 


LI 

The  Moving  Finger  writes ;  and,  having  writ, 
Moves  on :  nor  all  thy  Piety  nor  Wit 

Shall  lure  it  back  to  cancel  half  a  Line, 
Nor  all  thy  Tears  wash  out  a  Word  of  it. 


And  that  inverted  Bowl  we  call  The  Sky, 
Whereunder  crawling  coop't  we  live  and  die. 

Lift  not  thy  hands  to  It  for  help  —  for  It 
Rolls  impotently  on  as  Thou  or  I. 

LIII 

With  Earth's  first  Clay  They  did  the  Last  Man's  knead. 
And  then  of  the  Last  Harvest  sow'd  the  Seed : 

Yea,  the  first  Morning  of  Creation  wrote 
What  the  Last  Dawn  of  Reckoning  shall  read. 


54 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyAt 


LXIX 


Bui  helpless  Pieces  of  the  Game  He  plays 
Upon  ibis  Cbeq-uer-hoard  of  Nights  and  Days  ; 

Hither  and  thither  moves,  and  checks,  and  slays, 
v^nd  om  hy  one  hack  in  the  Closet  lays. 


LXX 


The  Ball  no  question  makes  of  Ayes  and  Noes, 
'But  Here  or  There  as  strikes  the  Player  goes; 
%And  He  that  tossed  you  down  into  the  Field, 
He  knows  about  it  all — he  knows — HE  knows  I '^'^ 


LXX  I 


The  Mooing  Finger  writes  ;  and,  having  writ, 
CMoves  on :  nor  all  your  Piety  nor  Wit 

Shall  lure  it  hack  to  cancel  half  a  Line, 
Nor  all  your  Tears  wash  out  a  Word  of  it. 


LXXII 


tAnd  that  inserted  Bowl  they  call  the  Sky, 
Whereunder  crawling  cooped  we  live  and  die. 
Lift  not  your  hands  to  It  for  help — for  It 
As  impotently  moves  as  you  or  L 


With  EartFs  first  Clay  They  did  the  Last  Man  knead, 
tAnd  there  of  the  Last  Harvest  sow^d  the  Seed: 

And  the  first  Morning  of  Creation  wrote 
What  the  Last  Dawn  of  Reckoning  shall  read. 


» 


RUbAiYAT      [I  ED. 


LIV 


I  tell  Thee  this  —  When  starting  from  the  Goal, 
Over  the  shoulders  of  the  flaming  Foal 

Of  Heav*n  Parwin  and  Mushtari  they  flung, 
In  my  predestin'd  Plot  of  Dust  and  Soul 


The  Vine  had  struck  a  Fibre ;  which  about 
If  clings  my  Being — let  the  Sufi  flout; 

Of  my  Base  Metal  may  be  filed  a  Key, 
That  shall  unlock  the  Door  he  howls  without. 


And  this  I  know :  whether  the  one  True  Light, 
Kindle  to  Love,  or  Wrath-consume  me  quite. 

One  Glimpse  of  It  within  the  Tavern  caught 
Better  than  in  the  Temple  lost  outright. 


S6 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyAt 


Yesterday  This  Days  Madness  did  prepare; 
To-MoRROw's  Silence,  Triumph,  or  Despair  : 

'Drink!  for  you  kftow  not  whence  you  came,  nor  why : 
Think  !  for  you  know  not  why  you  go,  nor  where. 


I  tell  you  this —  IVhen,  started  from  the  Goal, 
Over  the  flaming  shoulders  of  the  Foal 

Of  Heav'n  Parwin  and  Mushtari  they  flung,^z 
In  my  predestined  Plot  of  Dust  and  Soul 


The  Vine  bad  struck  a  fibre :  which  about 
If  clings  my  Being — let  the  Dervish  flout; 

Of  my  Base  metal  may  be  filed  a  Key, 
That  shall  unlock  the  Door  he  howls  without. 

LXXVII 

t/fnd  this  I  kftow :  whether  the  one  True  Light 
Kindle  to  Love,  or  IVrath-consume  me  quite, 
One  Flash  of  It  within  the  Tavern  caught 
'Better  than  in  the  Temple  lost  outright. 

LXXVIII 

IVbai!  out  of  senseless  Nothing  to  provoke 
A  conscious  Something  to  resent  the  yoke 

Of  unpermitted  Pleasure,  under  pain 
Of  Everlasting  Penalties,  if  broke  ! 


57 


RUBAiyAt      [I  ED. 


LVII 

Oh,  Thou,  who  didst  with  Pitfall  and  with  Gin 
Beset  the  Road  I  was  to  wander  in, 

Thou  wilt  not  with  Predestination  round 
Enmesh  me,  and  impute  my  Fall  to  Sin  ? 


Oh,  Thou,  who  Man  of  baser  Earth  didst  make 
And  who  with  Eden  didst  devise  the  Snake ; 
For  all  the  Sin  wherewith  the  Face  of  Man 
Is  blacken'd,  Man*s  Forgiveness  give  —  and  take  I 


«  «  «  « 

KtJZA-NAMA 

LIX 

Listen  again.    One  Evening  at  the  Close 
Of  Ramazan,  ere  the  better  Moon  arose, 
In  that  old  Potter's  Shop  I  stood  alone 
With  the  clay  Population  round  in  Rows. 


fi    1 


IV  ED.]      RUBXiyAT 


IVbat !  from  bis  helpless  Creature  he  repaid 
Ture  Gold  for  what  he  lent  him  dross-allay  d- 

Sue  for  a  Debt  we  never  did  contract ^ 
And  cannot  answer —  Ob  the  sorry  trade! 


Ob  Thou,  who  didst  with  pitfall  and  with  gin 
"Beset  the  Road  I  was  to  wander  in^ 

Thou  wilt  not  with  Predestined  Evil  round 
Enmesh  t  and  then  impute  my  Fall  to  Sin! 

LXXXI 

Ob  ThoUf  who  Man  of  baser  Earth  didst  make^ 
tAnd  ev'n  with  Paradise  devise  the  Snake : 

For  all  the  Sin  wherewith  the  Face  of  Man 
Is  blackened — Man's  forgiveness  give — and  take! 


tAs  under  cover  of  departing  Day 
Slunk  hunger-stricken  Rama^dn  away^ 

Once  more  within  the  Potter's  bouse  alone 
I  stoodf  surrounded  by  the  Shapes  of  Clay, 


59 


RUBAiyAt      [I  ED. 


LX 


And,  strange  to  tell,  among  that  Earthen  Lot 
Some  could  articulate,  while  others  not : 

And  suddenly  one  more  impatient  cried  — 
"  Who  is  the  Potter,  pray,  and  who  the  Pot  ? " 


Then  said  another — "  Surely  not  in  vain 

*'  My  Substance  from  the  common  Earth  was  ta'en, 

"  That  He  who  subtly  wrought  me  into  Shape 
**  Should  stamp  me  back  to  common  Earth  again." 


Another  said  —  ♦*  Why,  ne'er  a  peevish  Boy, 

"  Would  break  the  Bowl  from  which  he  drank  in  Joy ; 

*'  vShall  He  that  made  the  Vessel  in  pure  Love 
"  And  Fansy,  in  an  after  Rage  destroy ! " 


None  answered  this ;  but  after  Silence  spake 
A  Vessel  of  a  more  ungainly  Make : 

"They  sneer  at  me  for  leaning  all  awry; 
"What!  did  the  Hand  then  of  the  Potter  shake?' 


60 


IV  ED.]      RUBAIyAt 


(SEE  QUATRAIN    LXXXVII.) 


LXXXIII 


Shapes  of  all  Sorts  and  Si^es,  great  and  smalls 
That  stood  along  the  floor  and  by  the  wall; 

t/Ind  some  loquacious  Vessels  were  ;  and  some 
Listened  perhaps,  but  never  talked  at  all. 


LXXXIV 


Said  one  among  them — "  Surely  not  in  vain 
**  <My  substance  of  the  common  Earth  was  ta^en 

"  And  to  this  Figure  moulded,  to  be  broke, 
"  Or  trampled  back  to  shapeless  Earth  again^ 


LXXXV 


Then  said  a  Second — "  "Ne'er  a  peevish  Boy 

"  Would  break  the  Bowl  from  which  he  drank  in  joy  ; 

"tAnd  He  that  with  his  hand  the  Vessel  made 
"  IVill  surely  not  in  after  Wrath  destroy. ^^ 


tAfter  a  momentary  silence  spake 
Some  Vessel  of  a  more  ungainly  Make  ; 

"  They  sneer  at  me  for  leaning  all  awry : 
*'  What !  did  the  Hand  then  of  the  Potter  shake  ?  " 


.^l 


RUBAiyAt      [I  KD. 


(SEE  QUATRAIN    LX.) 


Said  one  —  "  Folks  of  a  surly  Tapster  tell, 

"  And  daub  his  Visage  with  the  Smoke  of  Hell ; 

"  They  talk  of  some  strict  Testing  of  us  —  Pish ! 
"  He  's  a  Good  Fellow,  and  *t  will  all  be  well." 


Then  said  another  with  a  long-drawn  Sigh, 
**  My  Clay  with  long  oblivion  is  gone  dry : 

"But,  fill  me  with  the  old  familiar  Juice, 
"  Methinks  I  might  recover  by-and-bye  1 " 


So  while  the  Vessels  one  by  one  were  speaking, 
One  spied  the  little  Crescent  all  were  seeking : 

And  then  they  jogg'd  each  other,  "  Brother!  Brother! 
"  Hark  to  the  Porter's  Shoulder-knot  a-creaking ! " 


63 


IV  ED.]      RUBXiyAt 


LXXXVII 


Whereat  some  one  of  the  loquacious  Lot — 
/  think  a  Sufi  pipkin — waxing  hot  — 

''All  this  of  Pot  and  Potter—  Tell  me  then, 
"  IVho  is  the  Potter,  pray,  and  who  the  Pot  ?  "  24 


"  IVhyT  said  another,  ''Some  there  are  who  tell 
"  Of  one  who  threatens  he  will  toss  to  Hell 

"  The  luckless  Pots  he  marred  in  making — Pish! 
"  He's  a  Good  Fellow,  and  7  will  all  be  wellJ* 


"  JVell,'*  murmured  one,  "  Let  whoso  make  or  buy, 
"  (My  Clay  with  long  Oblivion  is  gone  dry : 
"  But  fill  me  with  the  old  familiar  Juice, 
"  Methinks  I  might  recover  by  and  by,'* 

xc 

So  while  the  Vessels  one  by  one  were  speaking, 
The  little  Moon  look' din  that  all  were  seeking :^S 

t/Jnd  then  they  jogg'd  each  other,  "Brother!  Brother! 
"  Now  for  the  Porter's  shoulder-knot  a-creaking!" 


63 


RUBAiyAT      [I  ED. 


Ah,  with  the  Grape  my  fading  Life  provide, 
And  wash  my  Body  whence  the  Life  has  died, 
And  in  the  Windingsheet  of  Vine-leaf  wrapt, 
So  bury  me  by  some  sweet  Garden-side. 

LXVIII 

That  ev'n  my  buried  Ashes  such  a  Snare 
Of  Perfume  shall  fling  up  into  the  Air, 

As  not  a  True  Believer  passing  by 
But  shall  be  overtaken  unaware. 


Indeed  the  Idols  I  have  loved  so  long 

Have  done  my  Credit  in  Men's  Eye  much  wrong: 

Have  drown'd  my  Honour  in  a  shallow  Cup, 
And  sold  my  Reputation  for  a  Song. 


Indeed,  indeed,  Repentance  oft  before 
I  swore — but  was  I  sober  when  I  swore? 

And  then  and  then  came  Spring,  and  Rose-in-hand 
My  thread-bare  Penitence  apieces  tore. 

LXXI 

And  much  as  Wine  has  play'd  the  Infidel, 
And  robb*d  me  of  my  Robe  of  Plonour  —  well, 

I  often  wonder  what  the  Vintners  buy 
One  half  so  precious  as  the  Goods  they  sell. 


64 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyAt 


y^i&,  with  the  Grape  tny  fading  Life  provide ^ 
And  wash  the  Body  whence  the  Life  has  died, 

And  lay  me,  shrouded  in  the  Jiving  Leaf 
'By  some  not  unfrequented  Garden-side. 


That  ev^n  my  buried  Ashes  such  a  snare 
Of  Vintage  shall  fling  up  into  the  Air 

iAs  not  a  True-heliever  passing  hy 
But  shall  he  overtaken  unaware. 


Indeed  the  Idols  I  have  loved  so  long 

Have  done  my  credit  in  this  World  much  wrong : 

Have  drowned  my  Glory  in  a  shallow  Cupy 
And  sold  my  Reputation  for  a  Song. 


Indeed,  indeed,  Repentance  oft  before 
I  swore — but  was  I  sober  when  I  swore  ? 

And  then  and  then  came  Spring,  and  Rose-in-hand 
My  thread-bare  Penitence  apieces  tore. 

xcv 

lAnd  much  as  Wine  has  played  the  Infidel, 
And  robb'd  me  of  my  Robe  of  Honour —  Well, 

I  wonder  often  what  the  Vintners  buy 
One  half  so  precious  as  the  stuff  they  sell. 


6s 


RUBAiyAt     [I  ED. 


Alas,  that  Spring  should  vanish  with  the  Rose ! 
That  Youth's  sweet-scented  Manuscript  should  close ! 

The  Nightingale  that  in  the  Branches  sang, 
Ah,  whence,  and  whither  flown  again,  who  knows ! 


Ah  Love !  could  thou  and  I  with  Fate  conspire 
To  grasp  this  sorry  Scheme  of  Things  entire, 
Would  not  we  shatter  it  to  bits  —  and  then 
Re-mould  it  nearer  to  the  Heart's  Desire ! 


66 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyAt 


Yet  j4bt  that  Spring  should  vanish  with  the  Rose! 
That  YoutVs  sweet-scented  manuscript  should  close  ! 

The  Nightingale  that  in  the  branches  sang, 
Ah  whence,  and  whither  flown  again,  who  knows! 


tVould  but  the  Desert  of  the  Fountain  yield 
One  glimpse — if  dimly, yet  indeed,  reveaVd, 

To  which  the  fainting  Traveller  might  spring. 
As  springs  the  trampled  herbage  of  the  field! 

XCVIII 

H^ould  but  some  wingSd  Angel  ere  too  late 
Arrest  the  yet  unfolded  Roll  of  Fate, 

And  make  the  stern  Recorder  otherwise 
Enregister,  or  quite  obliterate! 

xcix 

tAh  Love!  could  you  and  I  with  Him  conspire 
To  grasp  this  sorry  Scheme  of  Things  entire, 
IVouldnot  we  shatter  it  to  bits — and  then 
T^e-mould  it  nearer  to  the  Heart*  s  Desire  ! 


RUBAiyAt      [I  ED. 


Ah,  Moon  of  my  Delight  who  know'st  no  wane, 
The  Moon  of  Heav'n  is  rising  once  again ; 
How  oft  hereafter  rising  shall  she  look 
Through  this  same  Garden  after  me — in  vain! 


And  when  Thyself  with  shining  Foot  shall  pass 
Among  the  Guests  Star-scatter'd  on  the  Grass, 

And  in  thy  joyous  Errand  reach  the  Spot 
Where  I  made  one  —  turn  down  an  empty  Glass ! 


tamAm  shud. 


IV  ED.]      RUBAiyAt 


Yon  rising  Moon  that  looks  for  us  again  — 
How  oft  hereafter  will  she  wax  and  wane; 

How  oft  hereafter  rising  look  for  us 
Through  this  same  Garden — and  for  one  in  vain  ! 

CI 

^nd  when  like  her,  oh  Sdki,  you  shall  pass 
c/Jmong  the  Guests  Star-scattered  on  the  Grass, 

And  in  your  joyous  errand  reach  the  spot 
Where  I  made  One — turn  dotvn  an  empty  Glass! 


tamAm. 


NOTES 

VARIATIONS 

OMITTED  QUATRAINS 


NOTES. 


1  The  "False  Dawn;"  Subbi  Kd:(ib,  a  transient  Light 
on  the  Horizon  about  an  hour  before  the  Subbi  sddik,  or 
True  Dawn ;  a  well-known  Phenomenon  in  the  East. 

2  New  Year.  Beginning  with  the  Vernal  Equinox,  it 
must  be  remembered ;  and  (howsoever  the  old  Solar  Year 
is  practically  superseded  by  the  clumsy  Lunar  Year  that 
dates  from  the  Mohammedan  Hijra)  still  commemorated 
by  a  Festival  that  is  said  to  have  been  appointed  by  the 
very  Jamshyd  whom  Omar  so  often  talks  of,  and  whose 
yearly  Calendar  he  helped  to  rectify. 

"The  sudden  approach  and  rapid  advance  of  the 
Spring,"  says  Mr.  Binning,  "are  very  striking.  Before 
the  Snow  is  well  off  the  Ground,  the  Trees  burst  into 
Blossom,  and  the  Flowers  start  from  the  Soil.  At  Naw 
Roo^  {their  New  Year's  Day)  the  Snow  was  lying  in 
patches  on  the  Hills  and  in  the  shaded  Vallies,  while  the 
Fruit-trees  in  the  Garden  were  buddmg  beautifully,  and 
green  Plants  and  Flowers  springing  upon  the  Plains  on 
every  side — 

*  And  on  old  Hyems'  Chin  and  icy  Crown 
'  An  odorous  Chaplet  of  sweet  Summer  buds 
'  Is,  as  in  mockery,  set — '  — 


73 


NOTES 

Among  the  Plants  newly  appear'd  I  recognized  some 
Acquaintances  I  had  not  seen  for  many  a  Year:  among 
these,  tw«  varieties  of  the  Thistle;  a  coarse  species  of 
the  Daisy,  like  the  Horse-gowan;  red  and  white  Clover; 
the  Dock;  the  blue  Corn-flower;  and  that  vulgar  Herb  the 
Dandelion  rearing  its  yellow  crest  on  the  Banks  of  the 
Water-courses."  The  Nightingale  was  not  yet  heard, 
for  the  Rose  was  not  yet  blown:  but  an  almost  identical 
Blackbird  and  Woodpecker  helped  to  make  up  something 
of  a  North-country  Spring. 

3  "The  Whitb  Hand  of  Moses."  Exodus  iv.  6; 
where  Moses  draws  forth  his  Hand — not,  according  to 
the  Persians,  "leprous  as  Snow/*  —  but  white,  as  our 
May-blossom  in  Spring  perhaps.  According  to  them  also 
the  Healing  Power  of  Jesus  resided  in  his  Breath. 

4  Iram,  planted  by  King  Shaddid,  and  now  sunk  some- 
where in  the  Sands  of  Arabia.  Jamshyd's  Sevcn-ring'd 
Cup  was  typical  of  the  7  Heavens,  7  Planets,  7  Seas,  &c., 
and  was  a  Divining  Cup. 

5  'Pehlevi,  the  old  Heroic  Sanskrit  of  Persia.  Hifiz  also 
speaks  of  the  Nightingale's  Pehlevi,  which  did  not  change 
with  the  People's. 

6  I  am  not  sure  if  the  fourth  line  refers  to  the  Red  Rose 
looking  sickly,  or  to  the  Yellow  Rose  that  ought  to  be 
Red ;  Red,  White,  and  Yellow  Roses  all  common  in  Persia. 
I  think  that  Southey,  in  his  Common-Place  Book,  quotes 
from  some  Spanish  author  about  the  Rose  being  White 
till  10  o'clock;  "Rosa  Perfecta"  at  2;  and  "perfecta 
incarnada"  at  5. 

7  Rustum,  the  "Hercules"  of  Persia,  and  Zi\  his 
Father,  whose  exploits  are  among  the  most  celebrated  in 
the  Shih-nima.  Hdtim  Tai,  a  well-known  type  of  Oriental 
Generosity. 

8  A  Dnmi  —  beaten  outside  a  Palace. 

9  That  is,  the  Rose's  Golden  Centre. 


74 


NOTES 

lo  Persepolis:  call'd  also  Takbt-i-Jamsbyd — Thb 
Throne  of  Jamshyd,  " King  Splendid,*'  of  the  mythical 
Peshdddian  Dynasty,  and  supposed  (according  to  the 
Shih-ndma)  to  have  been  founded  and  built  by  him. 
Others  refer  it  to  the  Work  of  the  Genie  King,  Jdn  Ibn 
Jdn  —  who  also  built  the  Pyramids — before  the  time  of 
Adam. 

BahrAm  Gur  —  Bahrain  of  the  Wild  Ass  —  a  Sassanian 
Sovereign — had  also  his  Seven  Castles  (like  the  King  of 
Bohemia!)  each  of  a  different  Colour:  each  with  a  Royal 
Mistress  within;  each  of  whom  tells  him  a  Story,  as  told 
in  one  of  the  most  famous  Poems  of  Persia,  written  by 
Amfr  Khusraw:  all  these  Sevens  also  figuring  (according 
to  Eastern  Mysticism)  the  Seven  Heavens;  and  perhaps 
the  Book  itself  that  Eighth,  into  which  the  mystical  Seven 
transcend,  and  within  which  they  revolve.  The  Ruins  of 
Three  of  those  Towers  are  yet  shown  by  the  Peasantry ;  as 
also  the  Swamp  in  which  Bahrdm  sunk,  like  the  Master  of 
Ravenswood,  while  pursuing  his  Gur. 

The  Palace  that  to  Heav'n  his  pillars  threw, 
And  Kings  the  forehead  on  his  threshold  drew  — 

I  saw  the  solitary  Ringdove  there. 
And  "  Coo,  coo,  coo,"  she  cried ;  and  "  Coo,  coo,  coo." 

This  Quatrain  Mr.  Binning  found,  among  several  of 
Hdfiz  and  others,  inscribed  by  some  stray  hand  among  the 
ruins  of  Persepolis.  The  Ringdove's  ancient  Peblevi 
Coo,  Coo,  Coo,  signifies  also  in  Persian  "  Where  ?  Where  ? 
Where  ?  "  In  Attdr's  "  Bird-parliament "  she  is  reproved 
by  the  Leader  of  the  Birds  for  sitting  still,  and  for  ever 
Iiarping  on  that  one  note  ef  lamentation  for  her  lost 
Yiisuf. 

Apropos  of  Omar's  Red  Roses  in  Stanza  xix,  I  am 
reminded  of  an  old  English  Superstition,  that  our  Anemone 
Pulsatilla,  or  purple  "Pasque  Flower,"  (which  grows 
plentifully  about  the  Fleam  Dyke,  near  Cambridge),  grows 
only  where  Danish  Blood  has  been  spilt 


75 


II  A  thousand  years  to  each  Planet. 
13  Saturn,  Lord  of  the  Seventh  Heaven. 

13  Mk-and-Thee  :  some  dividual  Existence  or  Person- 
ality distinct  from  the  Whole. 

14  One  of  the  Persian  Poets  — Attdr,  I  think— has  a 
pretty  story  about  this.  A  thirsty  Traveller  dips  his  hand 
into  a  Spring  of  Water  to  drink  from.    By-and-by  comes 

'  another  who  draws  up  and  drinks  from  an  earthen  Bowl, 
and  then  departs,  leaving  his  Bov/1  behind  him.  The  first 
Traveller  takes  it  up  for  another  draught ;  but  is  surprised 
to  find  that  the  same  Water  which  had  tasted  sweet  from 
his  own  hand  tastes  bitter  from  the  earthen  Bowl.  But 
a  Voice — from  Heaven,  I  think — tells  him  the  clay  from 
which  the  Bowl  is  made  was  once  Man;  and,  into  what- 
ever shape  renew'd,  can  never  lose  the  bitter  flavour  of 
Mortality. 

15  The  custom  of  throwing  a  little  Wine  on  the  ground 
before  drinking  still  continues  in  Persia,  and  perhaps 
generally  in  the  East.  Monsieur  Nicolas  considers  it  "un 
signe  de  lib^ralit^,  et  en  meme  temps  un  avertissement  que 
le  buveur  doit  vider  sa  coupe  jusqu'^  la  derniere  goutte." 
Is  it  not  more  likely  an  ancient  Superstition;  a  Libation 
to  propitiate  Earth,  or  make  her  an  Accomplice  in  the 
illicit  Revel?  Or,  perhaps,  to  divert  the  Jealous  Eye  by 
some  sacrifice  of  superfluity,  as  with  the  Ancients  of  the 
West?  With  Omar  we  see  something  more  is  signified; 
the  precious  Liquor  is  not  lost,  but  sinks  into  the  ground  to 
refresh  the  dust  of  some  poor  Wine-worshipper  foregone. 

Thus  Hdfiz,  copying  Omar  in  so  many  ways:  "When 
thou  drinkest  Wine  pour  a  draught  on  the  ground. 
Wherefore  fear  the  Sin  which  brings  to  another  Gain?" 

16  According  to  one  beautiful  Oriental  Legend,  Azrael 
accomplishes  his  mission  by  holding  to  the  nostril  an  Apple 
from  the  Tree  of  Life. 


76 


NOTES 

This,  and  the  two  following  Stanzas  would  have  been 
withdrawn,  as  somewhat  de  trop,  from  the  Text,  but  for 
advice  which  I  least  like  to  disregard. 

X7  From  Mih  to  Mihi;  from  Fish  to  Moon. 

i8.  A  Jest,  of  course,  at  his  Studies.  A  curious  mathe- 
matical Quatrain  of  Omar's  has  been  pointed  out  to  me; 
the  more  curious  because  almost  exactly  parallel'd  by 
some  Verses  of  Dr.  Donne's,  that  are  quoted  in  Izaak 
Walton's  Lives!  Here  is  Omar:  "You  and  I  are  the 
image  of  a  pair  of  compasses;  though  we  have  two  heads 
(sc.  our  feet)  we  have  one  body;  when  we  have  fixed  the 
centre  for  our  circle,  we  bring  our  heads  (sc.  feet)  together 
at  the  end."    Dr.  Donne : 

If  we  be  two,  we  two  are  so 

As  stiff  twin-compasses  are  two ; 
Thy  Soul,  the  fixt  foot,  makes  no  show 

To  move,  but  does  if  the  other  do. 

And  though  thine  in  the  centre  sit, 

Yet  when  my  other  far  does  roam, 
Thine  leans  and  hearkens  after  it, 

And  grows  erect  as  mine  comes  home. 

Such  thou  must  be  to  me,  who  must 

Like  the  other  foot  obliquely  run ; 
Thy  firmness  makes  my  circle  just, 

And  me  to  end  where  I  begun. 

19  The  Seventy-two  Religions  supposed  to  divide  the 
World,  including  Islamism,  as  some  think :  but  others  not. 

20  Alluding  to  Sultan  Mahmud's  Conquest  of  India  and 
its  dark  people. 

21  Fdnusi  khiydl,  a  Magic-Iaothom  still  used  in  India; 
the  cylindrical  Interior  being  painted  with  various  Figures, 
and  so  lightly  poised  and  ventilated  as  to  revolve  round  the 
lighted  Candle  within. 


77 


NOTES 

22  A  very  mysterious  Line  in  the  Original : 

O  ddnad  O  ddnad  O  ddnad  O 

breaking  off  something  like  our  Wood-pigeon's  Note,  which 
she  is  said  to  take  up  just  where  she  left  off. 

23  Parwfn  and  Mushtarl — The  Pleiads  and  Jupiter. 

24  This  Relation  of  Pot  and  Potter  to  Man  and  his  Maker 
figures  far  and  wide  in  the  Literature  of  the  World,  from 
the  time  of  the  Hebrew  Prophets  to  the  present;  when 
it  may  finally  take  the  name  of  "Pot  theism,"  by  which 
Mr.  Carlyle  ridiculed  Sterling's  "  Pantheism."  My  Sheikh 
whose  knowledge  flows  in  from  all  quarters,  writes  to  me  — 

"Apropos  of  old  Omar's  Pots,  did  I  ever  tell  you  the 
sentence  I  found  in  'Bishop  Pearson  on  the  Creed'? 
*  Thus  are  we  wholly  at  the  disposal  of  His  will,  and  our 
present  and  future  condition  framed  and  ordered  by  His 
free,  but  wise  and  just,  decrees.  Hath  not  the  potter  power 
over  the  clay,  of  the  same  lump  to  make  one  vessel  unto 
honour,  and  another  unto  dishonour?  (Rom.  ix.  21.)  And 
can  that  earth-artificer  have  a  freer  power  over  his  brother 
Potsherd  (both  being  made  of  the  same  metal),  than  God 
hath  over  him,  who,  by  the  strange  fecundity  of  His 
omnipotent  power,  first  made  the  clay  out  of  nothing,  and 
thenhimout  of  that?'" 

And  again — from  a  very  different  quarter — "I  had  to 
refer  the  other  day  to  Aristophanes,  and  came  by  chance 
on  a  curious  Speaking-pot  story  in  the  Vespse,  which  I  had 
quite  forgotten. 

(1.  1435) 
^CkoK\^(jjv.    "AkovCj  fjLT]  <p€vy'    iv  ^v^dpei  yvvfi 

TTore  Kar^a^*  ix^vov. 
Kari/jyopos.     TaOr'  iyca  iiapripo^aL. 
$t.  Ovx^vos  odv  €X<^v  Tf-v^  iirefutpr^paTO' 

ET^'  7]  SujSa/otrts  etirev  it  val  rav  Kbpav 
tt)v  fiapTvplav  TaiJT7}v  idjas^  kv  rdxct 
iirldea-fioy  iirplu),  vovv  &v  cTxes  irXefofa. 


78 


"  The  Pot  calls  a  bystander  to  be  a  witness  to  his  bad 
treatment.  The  woman  says,  *  If,  by  Proserpine,  instead  of 
all  this  *  testifying  *  ( comp.  Cuddie  and  his  mother  in  '  Old 
Mortality!')  you  would  buy  yourself  a  rivet,  it  would  show 
more  sense  in  you!'  The  Scholiast  explains  echinus  as 
<S770J  TL  iK  Kepdfiov.*^ 

One  more  illustration  for  the  oddity's  sake  from  the 
"  Autobiography  of  a  Cornish  Rector,"  by  the  late  James 
Hamley  Tregenna.    1871. 

"There  was  one  old  Fellow  in  our  Company — he  was 
so  like  a  Figure  in  the  'Pilgrim's  Progress'  that  Richard 
always  called  him  the  'Allegory,'  with  a  long  white 
beard  — a  rare  Appendage  in  those  days  —  and  a  Face  the 
colour  of  which  seemed  to  have  been  baked  in,  like  the 
Faces  one  used  to  see  on  Earthenware  Jugs.  In  our 
Country-dialect  Earthenware  is  called  '  Clome' ;  so  the 
Boys  of  the  Village  used  to  shout  out  after  him — *  Go  back 
to  the  Potter,  Old  Clome-face,  and  get  baked  over  again.' 
For  the  *  Allegory,'  though  shrewd  enough  in  most  things, 
had  the  reputation  of  being  '  saift- baked/  L  e.,  of  weak 
intellect." 

25  At  the  Close  of  the  Fasting  Month,  Ramazdn  (which 
makes  the  Mussulman  unhealthy  and  unamiable),  the  first 
Glimpse  of  the  New  Moon  (who  rules  their  division  of  the 
Year),  is  looked  for  with  the  utmost  Anxiety,  and  hailed 
with  Acclamation.  Then  it  is  that  the  Porter's  Knot 
may  be  heard— toward  the  Cellar.  Omar  has  elsewhere 
a  pretty  Quatrain  about  the  same  Moon  — 

"Be  of  Good  Cheer— the  sullen  Month  will  die, 
"  And  a  young  Moon  requite  us  by  and  by  : 

"  Look  how  the  Old  one  meagre,  bent,  and  wan 
"  With  Age  and  Fast,  is  fainting  from  the  Sky ! " 

FINIS. 


VARIATIONS 

BETWEEN    THE   SECOND,   THIRD    AND    FOURTH 
EDITIONS   OF 

OMAR  KHAYYAM. 

QUATRAIN 

I.    In  ed.  2 : 

Wake !    For  the  Sun  behind  yon  Eastern  height 
Has  chased  the  Session  of  the  Stars  from  Night ; 

And,  to  the  field  of  Heav'n  ascending,  strikes 
The  Sultdn's  Turret  with  a  Shaft  of  Light. 

In  the  first  draught  of  ed.  3  the  first  and  second  lines 
stood  thus : 

Wake !    For  the  Sun  before  him  into  Night 
A  Signal  flung  that  put  the  Stars  to  flight. 

If.    In  ed.  2 : 

"  Why  iagfs  the  drowsy  Worshipper  outside  ? " 
V.    In  edd.  2  and  3  : 

But  still  a  Ruby  gushes  from  the  Vine, 
IX.    In  edd.  2  and  3 : 

Morning  a  thousand  Roses  brings,  you  say ; 


81 


VARIATIONS 


QUATRAIN 

X.    In  ed.  2 : 

Let  Rustura  cry  "  To  battle ! "  as  he  likes, 
Or  Hdtim  Tai  "To  Supper!"— heed  not  you. 

In  ed.  3 : 

Let  Zi\  and  Rustum  thunder  as  they  will. 


XII.    In  ed.  2 : 


Here  with  a  little  Bread  beneath  the  Bough, 

A  Flask  of  Wine,  a  Book  of  Verse  —  and  Thou  etc. 

XIII.     lued.  2: 

Ah,  take  the  Cash,  and  let  the  Promise  go, 
Nor  heed  the  music  of  a  distant  Drum ! 

XX.    In  ed.  2 : 

And  this  delightful  Herb  whose  living  Green 

XXII.    In  edd.  2  and  3 : 

That  from  his  Vintage  rolling  Time  has  prest, 

XXVI.  In  edd.  2  and  3 : 

Of  the  Two  Worlds  so  learnedly,  are  thrust 

XXVII.  In  ed.  2 : 

Came  out  by  the  same  door  as  in  I  went. 

XXVIII.  In  edd.  2  and  3 : 

And  with  my  own  hand  wrought  to  make  it  grow  : 

XXX.  In  ed.  2 : 

Ah,  contrite  Heav'n  endowed  us  with  the  Vine 
To  drug  the  memory  of  that  insolence ! 

XXXI.  In  ed.  2 : 

And  many  Knots  unravel'd  by  the  Road ; 


82 


VARIATIONS 

QUATRAIN 

XXXII.    In  edcL  2  and  3 : 

There  was  the  Veil  through  which  I  could  not  see : 
xxxiii.    In  ed.  2 : 

Nor  Heaven,  with  those  eternal  Signs  reveal'd 

XXXIV.  In  ed.  2 : 

Then  of  the  Thee  in  Me  who  works  behind 
The  Veil  of  Universe  I  cried  to  find 

A  Lamp  to  guide  me  through  the  darkness ;  and 
Something  then  said— "An  Understanding  blind." 

XXXV.  In  ed.  2 : 

I  lean'd,  the  secret  Well  of  Life  to  learn: 

XXXVI.  In  ed.  2 : 

And  drink;  and  that  impassive  Lip  I  kiss'd, 

XXXVIII. 

In  ed.  2  the  only  difference  is  "  For"  instead  of 
"And"  in  the  first  line;  but  in  the  first 
draught  of  ed.  3  the  quatrain  appeared  thus : 

For  in  your  Ear  a  moment — of  the  same 

Poor  Earth  from  which  that  Human  Whisper  came, 

The  luckless  Mould  in  which  Mankind  was  cast 
They  did  compose,  and  call'd  him  by  the  name. 

XXXVIII.  In  ed.  3  the  first  line  was  altered  to 
Listen— a  moment  listen!  — Of  the  same  etc. 

XXXIX.  In  ed.  2 : 

On  the  parcht  herbage  but  may  steal  below 
XL.    In  ed.  2 : 

As  then  the  Tulip  for  her  wonted  sup 
Of  Heavenly  Vintage  lifts  her  chalice  up, 

Do  you,  twin  offspring  of  the  soil,  till  Heav*n 
To  Earth  invert  you  like  an  empty  Cup. 


83 


VARIATIONS 


QUATRAIN 

XL.         In  the  first  draught  of  ed.  3  the  stanza  is  the  same 
as  in  add.  3  and  4,  except  that  the  second 
line  is 
Of  Wine  from  Heav'n  her  little  Tass  lifts  up. 

XLi.    In  ed.  2  and  the  first  draught  of  ed.  3 : 

Oh,  plagued  no  more  with  Human  or  Divine, 
To-morrow's  tangle  to  itself  resign, 

XLii.    In  ed.  2 : 

And  if  the  Cup  you  drink,  the  Lip  you  press. 
End  in  what  All  begins  and  ends  in  —  Yes ; 

Imagine  then  you  are  what  heretofore 
You  -were  —  hereafter  you  shall  not  be  less. 

The  first  draught  of  ed.  3  agrees  with  edd,  3  and  4 
except  that  the  first  line  is 
And  if  the  Cup,  and  if  the  Lip  you  press. 

XLiii.    Ined.  2: 

So  when  at  last  the  Angel  of  the  drink 
Of  Darkness  finds  you  by  the  river-brink, 

And,  proffering  his  cup,  invites  your  Soul 
Forth  to  your  Lips  to  quaff  it  —  do  not  shrink. 

In  the  first  draught  of  ed.  3  the  only  change  made 
was  from  "proffering"  to  "offering,"  but  in 
ed.  3  the  stanza  assumed  the  form  in  which 
it  also  appeared  in  ed.  4.  The  change  from 
"  the  Angel "  to  "  that  Angel "  was  made  in 
MS.  by  FitzGerald  in  a  copy  of  ed.  4. 

XLiv.    In  ed.  2 : 

Is't  not  a  shame — is't  not  a  shame  for  him 
So  long  in  this  Clay  suburb  to  abide ! 

XLV.    In  ed.  2 : 

But  that  is  but  a  Tent  wherein  may  rest 


84 


VARIATIONS 


XLVi.    Ined.  a: 


And  fear  not  lest  Existence  closing  ^o»r 
Account,  should  lose,  or  know  the  type  no  more ; 

XLVii.    In  ed.  a : 

As  much  as  Ocean  of  a  pebble-cast. 

Ined.  3: 

As  the  Sbv'n  Sbas  should  heed  a  pebble-cast. 

XLviii.    In  ed.  2 : 

One  Moment  in  Annihilation's  Waste, 
One  Moment,  of  the  Well  of  Life  to  taste  — 

The  Stars  are  setting,  and  the  Caravan 
Draws  to  the  Dawn  of  Nothing — Oh  make  haste  I 

In  the  first  draught  of  ed.  3  the  third  line  originally 
stood : 
Before  the  starting  Caravan  has  reach'd 
the  rest  of  the  quatrain  being  as  in  edd.  3  and  4. 
XLix.    In  ed.  2: 

A  Hair,  they  say,  divides  the  False  and  True  — 
The  change  from  "  does  "  to  "  may  "  in  the  last  line 
was  made  by  FitzGerald  in  MS. 
L.    In  ed.  2 : 

A  Hair,  they  say,  divides  the  False  and  True ; 
Lii.    In  edd.  2  and  3 : 

He  does  Himself  contrive,  enact,  behold. 
Liii.    In  the  first  draught  of  ed.  3 : 

To-morrow,  You  when  shall  be  You  no  more? 
Liv.    In  ed.  2 : 

Better  be  merry  with  the  fruitful  Grape 


8s 


VARIATIONS 


QUATRAIN 

Lv.    In  ed.  2 : 


You  know,  ray  Friends,  how  bravely  in  my  House 
For  a  new  Marriage  I  did  make  Carouse : 

Lvii.    In  ed.  2 : 

Have  squared  the  Year  to  human  compass,  eh? 
If  so,  by  striking  from  the  Calendar 

Lxii.    In  ed.  2 : 

When  the  frail  Cup  is  cnunbled  into  Dust ! 
Lxiii.    Ined.2: 

The  Flower  that  once  is  blown  for  ever  dies. 
Lxv.    In  edd.  2  and  3 : 

They  told  their  fellows,  and  to  Sleep  retum'd. 
Lxvi.    In  ed.  2 : 

And  after  many  days  my  Soul  return'd 
And  said,  "Behold,  Myself  am  Heav'n  and  Hell:" 

Lxvii.    In  ed.  2 : 

And  Hell  the  Shadow  of  a  Soul  on  fire, 

Lxviii.    In  ed.  2 : 

Of  visionary  Shapes  that  come  and  go 
Round  with  this  Sun-illumin'd  Lantern  held 

Lxix.    In  ed.  2 : 

Impotent  Pieces  of  the  Game  He  plays 
Lxx.    In  ed.  2 : 

But  Right  or  Left  as  strikes  the  Player  goes ; 
Lxxii.    In  ed.  2  and  the  first  draught  of  ed.  3  : 

And  that  inverted  Bowl  we  call  The  Sky, 


86 


VARIATIONS 


QUATRAIN 


Lxxii.    In  edA  2  and  3 : 

As  impotently  rolls  as  you  or  I. 

Lxxix.    In  ed.  2 : 

Pure  Gold  for  what  he  lent  us  dross-allay'd  — 

Lxxxi.    In  ed.  2 : 

For  all  the  Sin  the  Face  of  wretched  Man 
Is  black  with  —  Man's  Forgiveness  give  —  and  take ! 

Lxxxiii.    In  ed.  2 : 

And  once  again  there  gather'd  a  scarce  heard 
Whisper  among  them ;  as  it  were,  the  stirr'd 
Ashes  of  some  all  but  extinguisht  Tongue, 
Which  mine  ear  kindled  into  living  Word. 

Lxxxiv.    In  ed.  2 : 

"  My  Substance  from  the  common  Earth  was  ta'eu, 

"  That  He  who  subtly  wrought  me  into  Shape 
"  Should  stamp  me  back  to  shapeless  Earth  again?" 

Lxxxv.    In  ed.  2  • 

Another  said  —  "  Why,  ne'er  a  peevish  Boy 

"  Would  break  the  Cup  from  which  he  drank  in  Joy 

"  Shall  He  that  of  his  own  free  Fancy  made 
"The  Vessel,  in  an  after-rage  destroy  " 

Lxxxvi.    In  ed.  2 : 

None  answered  this ;  but  after  silence  spake 

Lxxxvii.    In  ed.  2 : 

Thus  with  the  Dead  as  with  the  Living,  ^bat  7 
And  Wby  7  so  ready,  but  the  Wherefor  not, 

One  on  a  sudden  peevishly  exclaira'd, 
"  Which  is  the  Potter,  pray,  and  which  the  Pot? " 


87 


VARIATIONS 

QUATRAIN 

Lxxxviii.    In  ed  2 : 

Said  one  — "  Folks  of  a  surly  Master  tell, 
"  And  daub  his  Visage  with  the  Smoke  of  Hell ; 
**  They  talk  of  some  sharp  Trial  of  us  —  Pish ! 
"  He's  a  Good  Fellow,  and  'twill  all  be  well." 

Lxxxix.    In  ed.  2 : 

"  Well,"  said  another, "  VHioso  will,  let  try,'* 

xc.    In  ed.  2 : 

One  spied  the  little  Crescent  all  were  seeking : 

xci.    In  ed.  2 : 

And  wash  ray  Body  whence  the  Life  has  died, 

XCI  11.    Ined.  2: 

Have  done  my  credit  in  Men's  eye  much  wrong : 

xcv.    In  ed.  2 : 

One  half  so  precious  as  the  ware  they  sell. 

xcvii.    In  ed.  2 : 

Toward  which  the  fainting  Traveller  might  spring, 

xcviii.    In  ed.  2 : 

Oh  if  the  World  were  but  to  re-create, 

That  we  might  catch  ere  closed  the  Book  of  Fate, 

And  make  The  Writer  on  a  fairer  leaf 
Inscribe  our  names,  or  quite  obliterate ! 

xcix.    In  ed.  2 : 

Ah  Love  I  could  you  and  I  with  Fate  conspire 

88 


VARIATIONS 

QUATRAIN 

c.    In  ed.  2 : 

But  see !  the  rising  Moon  of  Heav'n  again 
Looks  for  us,  Sweet-heart,  through  the  quivering 
Plane : 
How  oft  hereafter  rising  will  she  look 
Among  those  leaves— for  one  of  us  in  vain! 

CI.    In  ed.  3  : 

And  when  Yourself  with  silver  Foot  shall  pass 

In  the  first  draught  of  ed.  3  "  Foot "  is  changed  to 
"step." 

In  ed.  3 : 
And  in  your  blissful  errand  reach  the  spot 


Of  late  it  has  become  the  fashion  to  refer  to  z  fifth  edition 
of  FitzGerald's  text ;  a  mere  book  maker's  raison  d'Hre  for 
casting  doubt  upon  the  already  sufficiently  reliable  editions 
extant,  thereby  bringing  into  prommence  a  new  and  quite 
possibly  unnecessary  re-issue.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
Fourth  edition  is  the  last  that  FitzGerald  lived  to  see  in 
type.  The  variants  in  the  so-called  fifth  edition  are 
absurdly  unimportant.  They  were  first  printed  by  William 
Aldis  Wright  in  the  Letters  and  Literary  Remains,  (1889), 
and  are  taken  from  a  copy  of  the  Fourth  edition  which 
undoubtedly  contained  a  few  minor  changes  in  FitzGerald's 
handwriting.    They  are  as  follows : 

Quatrain  xvi  read  "is  gone"  for  '^was  gone ; "  xxi  read 
"^2A\ Regrets"  for  "^z&t Regret ;"  xlviii  read  "has  reach^d^* 
for  "has  reacht ;"  xlix  read  "may  life"  for  "does  life;" 
Lxvii  read  "emerged  from"  for  "emerg'd  from;"  lxxix 
read  "he  never"  for  "tu*  never;"  lxxx  read  "Predestined 
Evil"  for  "Predestin'd  Evil." 


89 


VARIATIONS 

In  quatrain  i,  line  i,  after  "Sun"  comma  is  inserted ;  in 
quatrain  xxiv,  line  3,  after  "under  Dust"  comma  is  omitted  ; 
and  in  quatrain  lvi,  line  i,  after  "Line"  comma  is  omitted. 
Let  us  hope  to  be  no  more  troubled  with  textual  variations. 
The  words  italicised  are  the  only  changes  observable. 

A  far  more  interesting  variant  occurs  in  a  letter  from 
FitzGerald  to  his  "dear  Cowell,"  dated  3  July,  1857,  {Letters 
and  Literary  Remains,  Vol.  I,  p.  264).  He  introduces  it  by 
sapng  "I  send  a  poor  Sir  W.  Jones'  sort  of  Parody  which 
came  into  my  mind  walking  in  the  Garden  here ;  where  the 
Rose  is  blowing  as  in  Persia  ?  .  .  I  will  not  stop  to  make 
the  Verse  better : " 

I  long  for  wine !  oh  Sdki  of  my  Soul, 
Prepare  thy  Song  and  filj[  the  morning  Bowl ; 
For  this  first  Summer  month  that  brings  the  Rose 
Takes  many  a  Sultan  with  it  as  it  goes. 


QUATRAINS 

PRINTED   IN   THB  SECOND  EDITION  ONLY  (x868). 


WERE  it  not  Folly,  Spider-like  to  spin 
The  Thread  of  present  Life  away  to  win  — 
What  ?  for  ourselves,  who  know  not  if  we  shall 
Breathe  out  the  very  Breath  we  now  breathe  in ! 


The  Palace  that  to  HeaVn  his  pillars  threw, 
And  Kings  the  forehead  on  his  threshold  drew  — 

I  saw  the  solitary  Ringdove  there. 
And  "  Coo,  coo,  coo,"  she  cried ;  and  "  Coo,  coo,  coo." 

(This  quatrain  is  quoted  in  the  Note  to  quatrain 
XVIII  in  the  Third  and  Fourth  editions.) 


Another  Voice,  when  I  am  sleeping,  cries, 

"The  Flower  should  open  with  the  Morning  skies." 

And  a  retreating  Whisper,  as  I  wake  — 
"  The  Flower  that  once  has  blown  for  ever  dies." 


Do  you,  within  your  little  hour  of  Grace, 
The  waving  Cypress  in  your  Arms  enlace, 

Before  the  Mother  back  into  her  arms 
Fold,  and  dissolve  you  in  a  last  embrace. 


If  but  the  Vine  and  Love-abjuring  Band 
Are  in  the  Prophet's  Paradise  to  stand, 

Alack,  I  doubt  the  Prophet's  Paradise 
Were  empty  as  the  hollow  of  one's  Hand. 


91 


OMITTED   QUATRAINS 


For  let  Philosopher  and  Doctor  preach 

Of  what  they  will  and  what  they  will  not  —  each 

Is  but  one  Link  in  an  eternal  Chain 
That  none  can  slip,  nor  break,  nor  over-reach. 


Nay,  but,  for  terror  of  his  wrathful  Face, 
I  swear  I  will  not  call  Injustice  Grace ; 

Not  one  Good  Fellow  of  the  Tavern  but 
Would  kick  so  poor  a  Coward  from  the  place. 


And  once  again  there  gathered  a  scarce  heard 
Whisper  among  them ;  as  it  were,  the  stirr'd 
Ashes  of  some  all  but  extinguisht  Tongue, 
Which  mine  ear  kindled  into  living  Word. 

(In  the  Third  and  Fourth  editions  quatrain  lxxxiii 
takes  the  place  of  this.) 


Whither  resorting  from  the  vernal  Heat 

Shall  Old  Acquaintance  Old  Acquaintance  greet, 

Under  the  Branch  that  leans  above  the  Wall 
To  shed  his  Blossom  over  head  and  feet. 


Better,  oh  better,  cancel  from  the  Scroll 
Of  Universe  one  luckless  Human  Soul, 

Than  drop  by  drop  enlarge  the  Flood  that  rolls 
Hoarser  with  Anguish  as  the  Ages  roll. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Note.  This  Bibliographical  List  is 
concerned  only  with  the  English  versions 
and  editions  of  the  Rubdiydt.  At  the 
head  of  all  possible  versions  stands  the 
translation  by  Edward  FitzGerald. 
The  attempts  of  other  men  to  retranslate 
what  has  been  already  accomplished 
so  magnificently  cannot  but  remind  us 
of  Franklin's  unhappy  suggestion,  (with 
a  specimen)  of  an  improved  rendering 
of  the  book  of  Job.  Nor  is  it  a  question 
of  scholarship  in  the  least.  The  unique 
thing  is  FitzGerald's  blend  of  modem 
Agnosticism  with  Oriental  fatalism ;  this 
it  is,  a  living  English  graft  upon  the 
stock  of  Omar  dead  and  turned  to  clay, 
that  compels  our  attention  and  will  hold 
it  against  all  new-comers, — the  bald  and 
unconvincing  literality  of  Mr.  John 
Payne,  or  the  mild  erotics  and  senti- 
mentalisms  read  into  the  incomparable 
old  Persian  singer  by  his  latest  versifier. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


LIST    OF    ENGLISH     VERSIONS     AND    EDITIONS    OF     TUB 
RUBXiyAt  OF  OMAR    KHAYyAm. 


FITZGERALD'S  TRANSLATION. 

A.      ENGLISH   EDITIONS. 

I.    First  Edition. 

RubXiyXt||of||Omar  KhayyXm||the  Astronomer- 
PoET  of  Persia  II  Translated  into  English   Versh.|| 

London  ||  Bernard  Quaritch,  ||  Castle  Street, 
Leicester  Square  ||  1859. 

Small  4to.  Brown  paper  wrappers.  Pp.  xiii-}-2i. 
"  It  was  printed  as  a  small  quarto  pamphlet,  bearing  the 
publisher's  name  but  not  the  author's;  and  although 
apparently  a  complete  failure  at  first,— a  failure  which 
Mr.  FitzGerald  regretted  less  on  his  own  account  than 
on  that  of  his  publisher,  to  whom  he  had  generously 
made  a  present  of  the  book, — received,  nevertheless,  a 
sufficient  distribution  by  being  quickly  reduced  from  the 
price  of  five  shillings  and  placed  in  the  box  of  cheap 
books  marked  a  penny  each.  Thus  forced  into  circula- 
tion, the  two  hundred  copies  which  had  been  printed 


95 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

were  soon  exhausted."    (Works  of  Edward  FitzGerald, 

1887,  vol.  I,  pp.  xvii,  xviii.) 

A  copy  of  this  First  edition  was  bought  by  Mr.  Quaritch 

in  February,   1898,  for    £^\.      Since   then   Mr.   S.   B. 

Luyster,  Jr.,  of  New  York  City,  has  sold  what  is  believed 

to  be  an  unique  uncut  copy  for  J  140.00 

I  a.    Thb  Samb.   (50  copies  only),  octavo,  cloth,  Madras, 

1862. 

"This  was  privately  reprinted  at  Madras  (Adiyar)  in 

1862,   .    .    .    with  a  few  additional  quatrains  translated." 

(Dole's  Variorum  [1898]  vol.  11,  p.  467.) 

Priced  at  ;^io,  los.  in  a  recent  English  catalogue. 

II.  Second  Edition. 

RubaiyAt  II  OF  II  Omar  KhayvXm  ||  the  Astronomer- 
Poet  OF  Persia  H  Rendered  into  English  Verse  || 
Second  Edition  ||  London:  ||  Bernard  Quaritch, || 
Piccadilly  |I  1868. 

Small  4to.  Wrappers.  Pp.  xviii-f  30. 
"After  the  first  edition  had  disappeared,  inquiries  for 
the  little  book  became  frequent,  and  in  the  year  1868  he  " 
(FitzGerald)  "gave  the  MS.  of  his  second  edition  to  Mr. 
Quaritch,  and  the  Rubi'iydt  came  into  circulation  once 
more,  but  with  several  alterations  and  additions  by 
which  the  number  of  stanzas  was  somewhat  increased 
beyond  the  original  seventy-five."  (Works,  vol.  i,  p.  xix.) 
As  a  matter  of  fact  this  edition  contained  no 
quatrains. 

At  the  Bierstadt  sale,  (Bangs,  April,  1897)  ^  copy  in 
the  original  wrappers  brought  ^14.00. 

III.  Third  Edition. 

RubAiyAt  n  OF  II  Omar  KhayyXmjH  the  Astronomer- 
Poet  OF  Persia,  |I  Rendered  into  English  Verse  H 
Third  Edition  I|  London  :  I|  Bernard  Quaritch,  || 
Piccadilly.  ||  1872. 


96 


I 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Quarto.    %  Roxburghe.    Pp.  xxiv+36. 

"  A  third  edition  appeared  in  1872,  with  some  further 

alterations,  and  this  may  be  regarded  as  virtually  the 

author's  final  revision,  for  it  hardly  differs  at  all  from 

the  text  of  the  fourth  edition,  which  appeared  in  1879." 

(Works,  vol.  I,  p.  XX.) 

There  were  loi  quatrains  in  this  edition. 

Priced  at  £2,,  los.  in  a  recent  English  catalogue. 

IV.  Fourth  Edition. 

RubXiyXt  U  of  U  Omar  KhavvXm  j|  and  the  SalX- 
mAn  and  AbsAl  II  of  II  JXMf ;  ||  Rendered  into  English 
Verse  II  Bernard  Quaritch;  15  Piccadilly,  London, 
1879. 

Fcap  4to.     J^  Roxburghe.    Pp.  xvi-|-ii2. 

"This  last"  (edition)  "formed  the  first  portion  of  a 

volume  entitled  "  as  above.    (Works,  vol.  i,  p.  xx.) 
None  of  the  preceding  editions  bear  the  name  of  the 

translator,  but  were  issued  anonymously. 

V.  Fifth  Edition. 

Letters  ||  and  ||  Literary  Remains  H  of  ||  Edward 

FiTzGeRALD  n  EDITED  BY  ||  WiLLIAM    AlDIS  WrIGHT  ||  In 

Three  Volumes.  ||  London  :  |1  Macmillan  and  Co.  ||  and 
New  York.  ||  1889.  ||  AIL  Rights  reserved. 

Crown  8vo.    3  vols.    (Issued  at  iJ  10.00.) 

The  text  of  Omar,  with  additional  matter,  is  contained 

in  vol.  Ill,  pp.  333-396. 

VI.  Sixth  Edition. 

RubXiyXt  n  OF  II  Omar  KhayyXm  H  the  Astronomer- 
Poet  OF  Persia  ||  Rendered  into  English  Verse  || 
London  H  Macmillan  and  Co.  H  and  New  York  ||  1890.II 
All  rights  reserved. 


97 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Crown  8vo.  Pp.  iv+112.  (Issued  at  $3.00.) 
Mr.  Dole  calls  this  the  fifth  edition.  It  is,  indeed,  a 
mere  reprint  of  the  fifth ;  but  being  dated  a  year  later, 
and  a  book  by  itself  must  be  counted  as  a  distinct  edition. 
That  at  least  is  the  purport  of  the  bibliographical  note 
printed  on  reverse  of  title-page. 

VII.  The  Quilter  Edition. 

Omar  KhayyAm,  The  RubAiyAt,  translated  into 
English  Verse.  Royal  4to.  Title  printed  on  the  covers. 
Bds.  iQS.  London,  John  Campbell,  Jun.  mdccclxxxiii. 
"A  pirated  edition;  the  first  leaf  bears  the  following 
inscription:  —  'To  the  Translator,  with  the  Printer's 
thanks  and  apologies.  Henry  Quilter.'  It  is  word  for 
word  an  exact  reprint  of  Mr.  FitzGerald's  edition." 
(Extract  from  one  of  Quaritch's  Catalogues  of  Oriental 
Books,  [1887?]  quoted  by  Justin  Huntly  McCarthy  in 
the  Introduction  to  his  Prose  Version  of  the  Rubdiydt.) 

VIII.  Latin  Translation. 

RubAiyAt  of  Omar  KhayyAm,  the  Astronomer- 
Poet  OF  Persia:  Rendered  into  English  Verse  by 
Edward  FitzGerald,  and  into  Latin  Verse  by 
Herbert  Wilson  Greene.  Privately  printed  (100  copies), 
Oxford,  1893. 

See  American  editions,  xviii. 

IX.  The  Ashendene  Press  Edition. 

RubAiyAt  of  Omar  KhayyAm  |!  of  NaishApur,  the 

ASTRONOMERiiPOETOF  PeRSIA  !  RENDERED  INTO  EnGLISH 

Verse.j!  [Device :    engraved  book-plate  with  legend:   Les 
hommcs  sont  ntescbants  mats  Uurs  livres  sont  tons.     C.  H. 
St.  John  Hornby.]  II  Ashendene  Press,    mdcccxcvi. 
Small  4to.    Pp.  xl+48. 

50  copies   printed    on    hand-made   paper,  for   private 
circulation  only.    "  The  text  here  printed  is  not  that  of 


98 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

any  one  of  the  four  editions ;  but  the  printer  has  selected 
from  each  those  readings  which  seemed  to  him  best,  and 
combined  them  into  one  whole."  This  reprint  ends 
with  a  bibliography  "taken,  with  apologies,  from  the 
edition  published  at  Portland,  Me.,  U.  S.  A.,  in  the  year 
1895."    (See  Dole's  Variorum,  I1898]  vol.  11,  pp.  557-563.) 

X.    Thb  Macdougall  Edition. 

The  RubXiyXt  of  Omar  KhayyX.m,  the  Astron- 

OMBR-POBT  OF  PERSIA.     RENDERED  INTO  ENGLISH  VeRSE 

BY    Edward    FitzGerald.     Decorated    by    W.    B. 

Macdougall.    London,  1898. 

The  borders  of  this  decorated  edition  (dedicated  to 
members  of  the  Omar  Khayydm  Club)  have  been 
engraved  on  wood  by  Octave  Lacour,  and  the  book  is 
printed  from  the  original  blocks  on  special  antique 
paper.    An  Edition  de  luxe  limited  to  1,000  copies. 


Heron-Allen,  Edward 

Some  Side-lights  upon  Edward  FitzGerald's  Poem  "  The 
Rubdiyit  of  Omar  Khayydm."  Being  the  Substance  of 
a  Lecture  delivered  at  the  Grosvenor  Crescent  Club 
and  Woman's  Institute,  on  the  22nd  March,  1898.  By 
Edward  Heron- Allen. 

Octavo.  Grey  wrapper.  Pp.  iv-f32.  London,  1898. 
Copies  of  this  most  interesting  little  book  should  be  in 
the  hands  of  every  student  of  Omar, — every  lover  of 
FitzGerald. 

Scott,  Temple 

A  Bibliography  of  Omar  Khayydm.  With  a  Prefatory 
Note  by  Edward  Clodd. 

Fcap  8vo.  Buckram.  (5s.  net.)  London:  Grant 
Richards,  1899. 

This  work  was  announced  for  1898,  but  date  of  publica- 
tion has  been  put  forward  to  the  spring  of  1899. 


99 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

B.     AMERICAN   EDITIONS. 

I.  First  Edition. 

RubAivAt  II  OF  II  Omar  KhayyX.m,||  the  Astronomer- 
Poet  OF  Persia.  ||  Rendered  into  English  Verse.|| 
First  American  Jj  From  the  Third  London  Edition  || 
[Monogram]  Boston  :  II  James  R.  Osgood  and  Company, U 
Late  Ticknor  &  Fields,  and  Fields,  Osgood  &  Co.|| 
1878.    [1877?] 

Square  1 6mo.    Pp.78.    Versos  blank ;  red  line.    ($1.00). 

The  26th  edition,  (Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.)  is  dated 

1896. 

II.  The  Grolier  Club  Edition. 

RubAiyAt  II  OF  II  Omar  KhayyAm  |I  the  Astronomer- 
Poet  OF  Persia  ||  Rendered  into  English  Verse  byI| 
Edward  FitzGerald  ||  [Club  device  in  colors.]  The 
Grolier  Club  of  New  York  ||  mdccclxxxv. 

"  Medium  octavo,  leaf  untrimmed,  6x9  inches,  pp.  xx-}-62. 
Printed  from  old  style  types  of  the  size  known  as 
English.  .  .  .  Ornamental  head-bands  in  gold  and 
colors.  Covers  of  Japan  paper  beautifully  ornamented 
in  blue  and  gold  from  an  Oriental  design. 
The  edition  consisted  of  150  copies  on  Japan  paper 
and  2  copies  on  vellum.  Printed  May,  1885.  The 
subscription  price  was  $3.00." 

{Transactions  of  the  Grolier  Club  :  Part  IF,  1894) 
Copies  of  this  edition  have  sold  in  New  York  at  Bangs's 
at  the  following  prices:  April  15,  1896,  ^200.00;  May 
18,  1896,  $208.00;  Dec.  7,  1896,  $210.00;  Feb.  10,  1897, 
$200.00;  Nov.,  1897,  $174.00;  Feb.,  1898,  $185.00. 

III.  The  Memorial  Edition. 

Works  of  ||  Edward  FitzGerald  U  Translator  of 
Omar     KhayyAm  |I  Reprinted  |I  from    the    original 

impressions,    with     some     corrections  II  DERIVED     FROM 
his   own   ANNOTATED  COPIES  ||  IN   TWO  VOLUMES.|| 

100 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

New  York  and  Boston :  London : 

Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.  Bernard  Quaritch. 

1887. 
2  vols,  octavo.     (^10.00.)    A  few  large  paper  copies, 
(Royal  octavo),  were  issued  at  525.00. 

IV.  The  Comparative  Edition. 

RubXivXt  of  II  Omar  KhavvXm  ||  in  English  Verse|| 
Edward  FitzGerald  ||  The  text  of  the  fourth  edition, 
followed  by  that  of  the  first;  with  notes  showing  the 
extent  of  his  indebtedness  to  the  Persian  original;  and 
biographical  preface. 

i2mo.    %  vellum.    Boston,  1888.    (^1.50.) 

V.  The  Vedder  Illustrated  Editions: 

1.  RubXivXt  of  Omar  KhayvXm.  With  ornamental 
title-page  and  56  full-page  drawings  by  Elihu  Vedder. 
Folio,  (unpaged)  cloth,  gilt  top.  Boston,  1884.  (1^25.00 
net.) 

I  a.  A  small  quarto  of  the  text  alone,  printed  on  one 
side  of  strips  of  paper,  like  a  Japanese  book,  Pp.  45, 
without  title  page,  imprint  or  date. 

2.  The  Same.  Edition  de  luxe,  100  copies  on  Japan 
vellum,  full  morocco,  satin  linings.    ($100.00  net) 

3.  The  Same.  Phototype  edition,  (reduced  plates.) 
Quarto,  cloth,  gilt  top.    Boston,  1886.    ($12.50.) 

4.  The  Same.     Popular  edition.      With  comparative 
texts,  Life  of  the  Author,  and  Sketch  of  FitzGerald. 
Small  4to,  cloth,  gilt  top.    Boston,  1894.    ($5.00.) 

VI.    Pamphlet  Edition. 

RubXivXt  of  Omar  KhavvAm. 

i2mo.  Green  paper  wrapper.  Pp.  48.  San  Francisco, 
1 89 1.    (20  cents.) 

IQI 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

VIT.    Selections  from  the  RubAiyXt. 

Octavo.  Pp.  21.  Boston,  Dec.  8,  1893.  loo  copies 
privately  printed  in  pamphlet  form  by  John  L.  Stoddard 
for  circulation  among  his  friends. 
In  a  prefatory  note  Mr.  Stoddard  says : 
"  The  following  verses  have  been  selected  out  of  many 
which  appear  in  the  four  different  editions  of  the 
*Rubiiydt  of  Omar  Khayydm,'  in  order  that  I  might 
have  my  favorite  stanzas  arranged  by  themselves  as  I 
best  love  to  read  them.  In  cases  where  I  preferred  a 
word  or  a  line  in  one  edition  to  its  substitute  in  a  later 
one,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  adopt  it,  but  all  these 
quatrains  are  the  work  of  the  great  Persian  poet,  as 
interpreted  and  versified  by  Edward  FitzGerald." 

VIII.  The  Bibelot  Edition. 

RuBiCiYAT  OF  Omar  KhayyAm. 
Narrow  Fcap  Svo.    Pp.  80.    Portland,  Me.,  1894.     725 
copies  on  Van  Gelder  hand-made  paper,  and  25  copies 
(numbered)  on  Japan  vellum. 

IX.  St.  Paul  Edition. 

1.  RubAiyAt  of  Omar  KhayyAm. 

Square  i2mo.  Bds.  Uncut.  Pp.  93.  (750  numbered 
copies  on  hand-made  paper.)  St.  Paul,  (Minn.)  1895. 
($1.25  net.)    Frontispiece. 

2.  The  Same.  i2rao.  Cloth.  Gilt  top.  Pp.  93.  St. 
Paul,  (Minn.)  1897.  ($1.00).  Evidently  printed  from 
electrotypes  of  the  previous  edition,  on  imitation 
hand-made  paper,  and  omitting  frontispiece. 

X.  The  Multi- Variorum  Editions. 

I.  RubAiyAt  of  Omar  KhayyXm.  English,  French 
and  German  Translations  comparatively  arranged  in 
accordance  with  the  text  of  Edward  FitzGerald's 
version.    With   further   selections,  notes,  biographies, 

103 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

bibliographies  and  other  material,  collected  and  edited 
by  Nathan  Haskell  Dole. 

iimo.  3  vols.  Cloth.  Gilt  top.  Boston,  1896.  Also 
250  large  paper  copies  (numbered). 
2.  The  Same.  Second  edition.  With  additional 
Italian  and  Danish  translations,  also  "additions  to 
bibliography  for  edition  of  1898."  Crown  Svo.  Illus- 
trated. 2  vols.  Cloth.  Gilt  top.  Boston,  1898.  [1897.] 
It  would  be  difficult  to  over-estimate  the  obligations 
all  lovers  of  Omar  and  of  FitzGerald  are  under  to 
Mr.  Nathan  Haskell  Dole  for  this  splendid  specimen 
of  his  editorial  ability. 

XI.  Pamphlet  Edition. 

1.  RubXivXt  op  Omar  KhavvXm. 

Square  i2mo.    Green  corrugated  paper  wrapper.    Pp. 
60.    San  Francisco,  n.  d.    [1896.]    25  cents. 
Some  de  luxe  copies  were  issued,  printed  on  one  side 
of  leaf  only.    ($1.50.) 

2.  Thb  Samb.    New  edition.    Pp.  72.    1898. 

XII.  The  Crowell  Editions. 

RubXivXt  of  Omar  KhavvXm  and  the  SalXmXn 
and  AbsXl  of  JXMf,  Rendered  into  English  Verse 
BY  Edward  FitzGerald.  New  York  and  Boston, 
N.  d.    [1896.] 

Sqxiare  i2mo.    Pp.  288.    [Issued  in  various  electrotype 
editions, — "  Handy  volume,"  "  Faience,"  etc.] 

XIII.  RubXivXt  of  Omar  KhavvXm. 

Square    i2mo.     Bds.     Pp.    64.      Published   for   Will 
Bradley  by  R.  H.  Russell,  New  York,  n.  d.    [1897.] 

XIV.  Williams  (Talcott.) 

Thb  RubXivXt  of  Omar  KhavvXm,  edited  bv 
Talcott  Williams. 

Square  i2mo.    Gilt  top.    Pp.  lxxii-4-76.    Philadelphia, 

1898.     (11.25.) 

103 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

XV.  The  "Lark  Classics"  Edition. 

Square  i6mo.  Pp.  114.  Cloth.  San  Francisco,  n.  d. 
I1898.] 

XVI.  Pamphlet  Edition. 
RubXiyXt  of  Omar  KhayyXm. 

Fcap  4to.  The  text  printed  on  left  side  of  leaf  in  red 
abd  black,  on  manilla  wrapping  paper;  the  right  side 
blank,  presumably  "for  pencil  notes  and  comments." 
Brown  wrapper.  Pp.  70.  San  Francisco,  n.  d.  [May, 
1898.] 

XVII.  New  RubXiyAt  by  Condi^  Benoist  Pallbn. 
Square  i6mo.     Pp.  62.    Cloth.     St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
1898.    The  text  of  FitzGerald's  First  edition  is  reprinted 
on  pp.  49-62.    (50  cents.) 

XVIII.  RubXiyXt  of  Omar  KhayyXm. 

Rendered  into  English  verse  by  Edward  FitzGerald, 
and  into  Latin  by  Herbert  Wilson  Greene.    Privately 
printed  by  Nathan  Haskell  Dole,  Boston,  1898. 
32mo.    Pp.  64,    950  copies  on  hand-made  paper  (jli.oo 
net);  50  numbered  copies  on  Japan  vellum  ($5,00  net). 

XIX.  The  Roycroft  Edition. 

Oblong  8vo.  Pp.  60.  East  Aurora,  N.  Y.  (June,  1898.) 
920  copies  printed  from  the  t3rpe  in  colors.    (I2.00.) 

XX.  The  "Triple"  Edition. 

Edited  by  Nathan  Haskell  Dole.    Illustrated  by  Gilbert 

James  and  Edmund  H.  Garrett. 

i2mo.    Cloth.    Boston,  1899  [1898].    (J2.00.) 

XXI.  RubX-iyXt  of  Omar  KhayyAm. 

Being  a  Reprint  of  Edward  FitzGerald's  4th  English 
Translation.  With  page  decorations  from  original 
designs  by  Blanche  McManus. 

104 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Contains  the  Text  only,  FitzGerald's  Introduction  and  < 

Notes  being  omitted. 

Fcap  4to.    Pp.  23,  not  paged.    Bds.    New  York,  1898. 

XXII.  Los  Angblks  Edition. 

An  edition  of  FitzGerald's  text  "with  a  prose  translation 
from  the  French  on  the  opposite  page"  is  announced  by 
Mr.  Ernest  K.  Foster,  Los  Angeles,  California.  (Oct., 
1898.) 

XXIII.  Thb  Old  World  Edition. 

RubXiyXt  op  Omar  KhayyXm. 

Narrow    Fcap   8vo.    Vellum   bds.    Uncut.     Portland, 

Maine. 

First  edition,  October,  1895 »  second  edition,  December, 

1895;    third  edition,   September,   1896;   fourth  edition. 

May,  1897;  fiftli  edition,  February,  1898:  sixth  edition, 

November,  1898.      Each  edition  limited  to  925  copies 

printed  from  type  on  Van  Gelder  hand-made  paper, 

(Ji.oo  net)  and  100  numbered  copies  on  Japan  vellum 

($2.50  net). 

IL 

OTHER  TRANSLATIONS. 

I.    Whinfibld  (E.  H.) 

1.  The  Quatrains  of  Omar  KhayyXm.  Translated 
into  English  Verse.    (253  quatrains.) 

Octavo.    Pp.  viii-}-9i.    London,  1882. 

2.  The  Same.  Second  edition  revised  (267  quatrains). 
Octavo.    Pp.  124.    London,  1893. 

3.  The  Quatrains  of  Omar  KhayyXm.  The 
Persian  Text  with  an  English  verse  translation  (500 
quatrains). 

Octavo.    Pp.  xxxii+33S.    London,  1883. 

105 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

.  II.    Garner  (John  Leslie) 

1.  The  Strophes  of  Omar  KhayyAm.  Translated 
from  the  Persian,  with  an  introduction  and  notes.  (142 
quatrains.) 

Square  i2mo.    Pp.  xii-j-76.    Milwaukee,  1888. 

2.  The  Stanzas  of  Omar  KhayyAm  translated 
from  the  Persian.  Second  edition  with  introduction 
and  notes.    (154  quatrains.) 

Square  lamo.  Gilt  top.  Pp.  80.  Printed  on  one  side 
of  leaf  only.    Philadelphia,  1898  [1897]. 

3.  An  English  edition  has  been  done  at  the  Chiswick 
Press  for  George  Bell  &  Sons,  London,  1898. 

III.  McCarthy  (Justin  Huntly) 

1.  RubXiyAt  of  Omar  KhayyAm.  (Prose  version.) 
Fcap  8vo.  Bds.  Pp.  Ixii+clvi.  London :  D.  Nutt,  1889. 
550  copies  on  small  paper,  and  60  on  large  paper  were 
issued,  printed  in  capital  letters  throughout.  Copies 
also  exist  printed  on  vellum. 

2.  Second  edition.  Re\ased  and  abridged.  London : 
D.  Nutt,  1898. 

3.  The  Same.    The  Bibelot  Edition. 
Narrow  8vo.    Pp.  cxxxi.     Portland,  Maine,   1896. 
This  is  a  reprint  of  Mr.  McCarthy's  first  edition,  with 
the  466  quatrains  numbered  consecutively. 

925  copies  printed  on  Van  Gelder  hand-made  paper,  and 
100  numbered  copies  on  Japan  vellum. 

IV.  Le  Gallienne  (Richard) 

1.  RubAivAt  of  Omar  KhayyAm.  A  Paraphrase 
from  several  Literal  Translations. 

Narrow  8vo.  Pp.  xvi-|-88.  London,  1897.  A  few 
copies  were  also  issued  on  Japan  vellum,  numbered  and 
signed  by  the  author. 

2.  The  Same.  Octavo.  Bds.  Pp.  112.  New  York. 
1897.     1250  copies  numbered  and  signed  by  the  author, 

106 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

on  hand-made  paper  (I2.50);    also  50  copies  on  Japan 

vellum. 

Selections    from    this    paraphrase    appeared    in    Tbe 

Cosmopolitan  for  July  and  August,  1897. 

3.    Cheaper  edition,  with  cover  design  by  Will  Bradley. 

New  York,  1898.    (|i.oo.) 

V.    Heron-Allen  (Edward) 

The  n  RubX'ivXt  H  of  ||  Omar  KhayvXm  |  Being  U  A 
Facsimile  of  the  Manuscript  in  the  Bodleian 
Library  at  Oxford,  H  with  a  Transcript  into 
Modern  Persian  Characters,  {|  Translated,  with 
AN  Introduction  and  Notes,  |i  and  a  Bibliog- 
raphy, 11  BY  Edward  Heron-Allen.  H  London,  ||  H.  S. 
Nichols  Ltd.  39  Charing  Cross  Road  W.  C.  I1 
mdcccxcviii. 

Royal  octavo.    White  leather.    Pp.  xlii+287. 
Of  this  edition  there  are  1000  small  paper  copies,  20 
large  paper  copies,  and  2  copies  on  vellum. 
An  American  edition  with  a  two-page  Preface  by  Mr. 
N.  H.  Dole  has  been  issued.    Boston,  1898.    ^3.50. 

VL    Payne  (John) 

The  Quatrains  of  Omar  KhayyXm,  the  Astron- 
omer-Poet OF  Persia,  now  first  completely  done 
into  English  verse  in  the  original  forms.  (In  all  about 
840  quatrains.) 

Octavo.  Vellum.  Gilt  top.  The  Villon  Society 
London,  1898.  675  numbered  copies  on  hand-made 
paper  issued  to  subscribers  at  one  guinea  net ;  75  large 
paper  copies  at  two  guineas  net. 


TRAY  BR  TO  THE  IVINDS, 

On  planting  at  the  head  of  FitzGerald's 
grave  two  rose-trees  whose  ancestors  had 
scattered  their  petals  over  the  tomb  of 
Omar  KhayvAm. 

**%My  tomb  shall  be  on  a  spot  where  the  north' 
wind  may  strow  roses  upon  it." — Omar  KhayyXm 
to  KwXjah  NizAml 

HEAR  tiSfj^e  winds / 
From  where  the  north-wind  strows 
'Blossoms  that  crown  "  the  King  of  IVisdom^s  '*  tomb, 
The  trees  here  planted  bring  remembered  bloom^ 
T)r earning  in  seed  of  Love's  ancestral  rose. 
To  meadows  where  a  braver  north-wind  blows 
O'er  greener  grass,  o'er  hedge-rose,  may,  and  broom, 
tAnd  all  that  make  East  England^ s  field-perfume 
T>earer  than  any  fragrance  Persia  knows. 

Hear  us, ye  winds.  North,  East,  and  West  and  South, 
This  granite  coders  him  whose  golden  mouth 
Made  wiser  ev'n  the  Word  of  Wisdom's  King : 
Blow  softly  over  Omar*s  Western  herald 
Till  roses  rich  of  Omar's  dust  shall  spring 
From  richer  dust  of  Suffolk's  rare  Fit^Gerald. 

THEODORE   WATTS-DUNTON. 


Here  ends  Rubaiyat  of 
Omar  Khayyam  .rendered 
into  English  Verse  by 
Edward  FiUGerald^-^iDe- 
signs  and  Headbands  by 
Charles  M,  Jenckes,  -^ 
Printed  by  Smith  &  Sale» 
for  Thomas  B»  Mosher,  and 
published  by  him  at  XLV 
Exchange  Street^  Portland, 
Maine,  MDCCCXCDC-^ 


